Talent development in China

The word brain drain first appeared in 1958, which refers to the phenomenon that British scholars and scientists immigrated to the United States. Later, it was widely used to describe the international transfer of human resources, that is, skilled labor (such as scientists, engineers, senior skilled workers, etc. ) emigrate from one country to another. Later, this word mainly refers to the phenomenon that talents flow from developing countries to developed countries. During the period of 196 1- 1972, 300,000 skilled workers from developing countries immigrated to western countries. According to 1990 American statistics, the total number of skilled workers from developing countries immigrated to the United States is as high as 2.5 million. In 2000, among every 10 highly educated immigrants accepted by OECD countries, 6 came from developing countries, and even more than 30% of highly educated people from many countries in Africa and Latin America went to OECD countries. Most of the international students sent by developing countries chose to stay in western countries. In terms of quantity, China and India are the biggest brain drain countries in the world.

The main reasons for the accelerated brain drain in developing countries

(A) the support of the governments of western developed countries. Article 12 1(b) of the American Immigration Act 1990 stipulates that "employment-based immigration" is as follows: the following persons can be given priority in obtaining American immigration qualification: foreigners with outstanding talents in science, art, education, commerce and sports; Outstanding professors and researchers; Senior managers and managers of multinational companies; Highly educated professionals who can make American economy, culture, art and commerce prosper; Skilled workers and professionals. Moreover, the 1998 Competitiveness and Labor Promotion Act of the United States once again emphasizes the screening of highly educated or special professionals to enter the United States through the quota system. Although there is no clear law in Europe that gives priority to foreign talents when immigrating, its administrative policy is similar to that of the United States.

(2) Human capital has stronger productivity. Since Gary Becker put forward the concept of human capital in 1964, many scholars have found that the labor force can improve its productivity and efficiency by investing in its own education, and human capital investment has the same or even more important role as other tangible capital investments in production. The difference between human capital and general labor force is that they have more knowledge and technology than the latter, so that they have the ability to create new ideas, develop new products, seek new production processes and new production methods, and can be competent for jobs that those who have not received corresponding education and training cannot be competent for. Because people can improve the production level, create more wealth and increase national income, American scientists and engineers, who account for less than 5% of the American population, have created 50% of the GDP of the United States. The book Analysis of Education Investment, co-authored by Saharovolos and Woodhull, points out that human capital constitutes the foundation of national wealth, capital and natural resources are only passive factors of production, and people are active factors of production. They promote national development by accumulating capital, exploiting natural resources and establishing social, economic and political organizations. Therefore, governments and enterprises in developed countries generally welcome the inflow of talents.

(C) the shortage of human capital in western countries. Due to the intensification of competition in the world market and the acceleration of technological upgrading, there is a shortage of R&D high-tech talents in developed countries. It is difficult to meet the talent needs of the three high-tech disciplines in the United States to support mathematics, natural science and engineering training. According to a survey in 2005, the proportion of American high school students willing to get a bachelor's degree in engineering is less than 6%, which is 36% lower than before 10. In 2000, the proportion of science and engineering graduates in China was 56%, and that in the United States was 17%. In 2005, the American Academy of Sciences put forward a plan to solve the shortage of talents in mathematics and science: First, increase domestic training efforts. The second is to increase the number of visas issued to foreign students with doctoral degrees in mathematics and natural sciences. For such students who have not found a job, the time for finding a job in the United States will be extended by one year. Once they find a job, they will apply for a work permit and permanent residence permit as soon as possible.

(4) Excellent salary and living conditions. Good wages and good working environment abroad are the main incentives for a large number of talents from developing countries to emigrate. The productivity of human capital formed by personal education investment has been greatly improved. In a completely competitive labor market, skilled workers require their wages to be equal to their marginal products as their income from human capital investment. In developing countries, the opportunity cost of education investment cannot be compensated because wages are far below the marginal output of individuals. Talents with knowledge and skills choose to work in high-wage areas abroad in order to maximize their own interests. Wages in developed countries are often dozens of times higher than those in developing countries. For example, Professor China's annual income is only equivalent to that of his American counterparts in January.

(e) Productivity multiplier effect caused by the concentration of professionals. The productivity of professionals will increase with the increase of the number of similar professionals gathered in the same area, or talent gathering has economies of scale. The success rate of working alone is far lower than that of cooperating with others. Overseas students are reluctant to return to China because there are too few people with similar knowledge structure in China, and there is no good information communication channel and environment, so personal productivity cannot be fully exerted. According to statistics, the number of papers published by immigrant scientists in developing countries is 4.5 more than that of their domestic counterparts, and the number of patents is more than 10 times that of their domestic counterparts.

(6) The "push" factor of brain drain. The above points are all factors that "pull" the inflow of talents and promote the outflow of talents. The "push" factors include: racial discrimination, political persecution, unfair wages, poor working environment, backward infrastructure and poor scientific research conditions. A strange phenomenon is that the more economically and technologically backward countries are, the more serious the brain drain of well-educated technical talents is. In 2000, more than 80% of graduates from universities in Haiti, Jamaica and Guyana emigrated. There are 300,000 immigrants from India, 75% of whom have received higher education, while 95,000 of the1280,000 immigrants from Africa have received higher education.

The influence of brain drain on developing countries

(a) Brain drain restricts the economic and social development of developing countries. Todaro of new york University and Smith of Washington University believe that the permanent outflow of a large number of technical talents not only means that developing countries lose a lot of valuable human capital, but also seriously restricts future economic progress. Michel Beine and others believe that if people with higher education account for more than 5% of the total population, and the migration rate of people with higher education exceeds 20%, then the brain drain will have a negative impact on the growth of human capital in China. Brain drain also brings immeasurable losses to the stable and balanced development of society. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, 1 000 patients need at least 2.3 medical workers, while India only has 1.9. 1956-In 2002, 56% of the graduates of All India Medical College, the best medical college in India, emigrated. Due to India's economic poverty and insufficient supply of medical and health services, the average life expectancy and infant survival rate in India are lower than the general level in developing countries.

(B) talent dating, restricting the vitality of economic innovation. The brain drain is often the best talent in China, because those with higher education must have very strong scientific research ability and working ability to survive abroad, and they are the most active production factors in China. The talent selection mechanism in developed countries has a "pinch effect", which introduces outstanding talents from other countries to enhance their own scientific and technological innovation ability, while reducing the production and innovation ability of other countries, further widening the gap between the two sides in scientific and technological level, that is, the stronger the strong, the weaker the weak.

(3) The cost of education subsidy cannot be recovered. In developing countries, families and individuals do not all bear the investment in education, and a large part of the investment is borne by the government. If you go to work abroad after becoming a talent, it means that developing countries provide subsidies for education in developed countries, and the dividends generated by education investment are occupied by developed countries, while developing countries bear the cost of education subsidies alone.

The above points are the negative effects of brain drain on developing countries. Of course, some scholars believe that the international flow of talents is not only a zero-sum game, but also developing countries can benefit from it: 1. Foreign remittance. Developing countries can also get a lot of foreign exchange income if they repatriate part of their foreign wage income through brain drain. For example, Bangladesh can receive $2 billion in remittances from overseas immigrants every year, which is the country's second largest foreign exchange income, which can be used for economic development investment. 2. Brain drain. If immigrants who study and work in developed countries can return to their own countries, they can increase the supply of human capital in their own countries, bring back the most precious and latest scientific and technological development information and new knowledge, and enhance their scientific and technological strength. Taiwan Province Hsinchu Science and Technology Park and Indian Banjialuoer Software Science and Technology Park have attracted a large number of high-tech talents from overseas returnees. 3. Channel communication. Brain drain can make use of their personal connections to bridge the gap between the sending and receiving countries in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and cultural activities.

The Present Situation and Countermeasures of Brain Drain in China

The brain drain in China is very serious. In the past ten years, the cumulative number of students studying abroad in China has reached1110,000, and the number of returnees is only 303,000, with a cumulative regression rate of only 26.5%, and the regression rate in individual years is only 15%. 60-70% of the students in some disciplines in domestic key universities study abroad, and most of them are the best students in this discipline in China, but few of them return home after their studies. "These talents trained by China at a huge educational cost work for immigrant countries in the fields of science, teaching and research, especially in the field of knowledge economy that can create high added value, which is undoubtedly a loss for China, which urgently needs to develop talents." How to retain talents or attract overseas students to return to China should focus on the following tasks:

(A) to create an ecological environment conducive to the life and work of talents. 1. Establish a reasonable salary payment mechanism to narrow the wage gap with developed countries. There is a big wage gap between China and developed countries, so it is unrealistic to expect to retain talents with the wage level of developed countries. The marginal output of human capital is higher than that of ordinary workers, so its wage level must be higher than that of unskilled labor, otherwise it will seriously dampen its work enthusiasm and induce brain drain. In the human capital wage policy, the wage level is determined according to the individual's contribution to society. It is necessary to widen the wage gap between technical talents and non-technical talents, as well as the wage gap within technical talents. The income of the best talents can be several times or even dozens of times that of ordinary talents. 2. Improve social welfare and eliminate the worries of talents. The government and enterprises formulate preferential policies to provide superior welfare treatment for technical personnel in housing, social medical insurance and children's education, so that they can work with peace of mind. 3. Create a good working environment. Many outstanding talents decide whether to go abroad because of the differences in scientific research conditions at home and abroad, and a good working environment is the basis for realizing their life value. Therefore, the working environment should be improved as much as possible, equipped with good equipment, and sufficient research funds should be provided to create conditions for scientific talents to concentrate on scientific research and produce more results. 4. Establish a fair talent employment mechanism. For domestic talents and returned talents, we should treat them equally in employment, post, treatment and promotion. Through equal competition, their position is determined according to their ability and contribution. Any favoritism is not conducive to the effective use of human capital.

(2) dredge the channels for overseas students to return to China. First, information on the number, major, salary and welfare, ability requirements of talents to be introduced from overseas by domestic universities, research institutes, enterprises and government departments will be released to overseas students on a regular basis, so that overseas students can know about domestic employment information and make it convenient for them to make decisions on returning to China; The second is to strengthen the intelligence collection of overseas students and overseas experts and scholars, track and investigate their knowledge, working ability and willingness to work, and selectively invite or recruit them to return to China for short-term or long-term work according to the development needs of the country and the quality requirements of imported talents.

(3) Improve the quality of higher education. The quality of higher education plays a particularly important role in curbing brain drain. China's "Outline of the National Medium-and Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan 20 10-2020" points out: "Accelerate the pace of establishing world-class universities and high-level universities, cultivate a number of top-notch innovative talents, form a number of world-class disciplines, produce a number of internationally leading original achievements, and make contributions to enhancing China's comprehensive national strength." Obviously, when China has the ability to train top talents with multiple disciplines and specialties, it means that outstanding students from many universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua and Fudan University can enjoy the same high-quality education services at a lower cost in China without going abroad for further study, which will greatly reduce the probability of brain drain and curb the spread of the "gap effect" in developed countries.

(4) collect education compensation fees. Although it is difficult to implement the idea of limiting brain drain through taxation in practice, China can collect education compensation for the brain drain of skilled personnel who enjoy public training in order to reduce the loss of the country and increase the cost of brain drain, so as to achieve the purpose of limiting brain drain.

(Author: School of Economics and Management, Southwest University of Science and Technology)

References:

[1] Sacharopoulos, G and Woodhall, M. (1997)

Analysis of investment choice. New york Oxford University Press, 105.

[2] Pan Chenguang. China talent development report [M]. Beijing: Social Science Literature Publishing House. 2005。