Physicians’ brain drain - a gravity model of migration flows

Abstract

Background: The past two decades have been marked by impressive growth in the migration of medical doctors. The medical profession is among the most mobile of highly skilled professions, particularly in Europe, and is also the sector that experiences the most serious labour shortages. However, surprisingly little is known about how medical doctors choose their destinations. In addition, the literature is scarce on the factors determining the sharp rise in the migration of doctors from Africa, Asia and Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and how the last economic crisis has shaped the migration flows of health professionals. Methods: We use the new module on health worker migration provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for 2000-2016 in order to examine the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign physicians from abroad. We estimate a gravity model using the Pseudo-Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimator. Results: Our results reveal that a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and a high level of medical technology at the destination are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, an analysis of the mobility of medical doctors from a number of regions worldwide shows that individuals react differently on a country-wise basis to various determinants present in the destination countries. Physicians from African countries are particularly attracted to destination countries offering higher wages, and to those where the density of medical doctors is relatively low. Concurrently, a higher demand for healthcare services and better medical technology in the receiving country drives the inflow of medical doctors from Central and Eastern Europe, while Asian doctors seem to preferentially migrate to countries with better school systems. Conclusions: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the channels through which OECD countries attract foreign medical doctors from abroad. We find that, apart from dyadic factors, a lower unemployment rate, good remuneration of physicians, an aging population, and good medical infrastructure in the host country are among the main drivers of physicians' brain drain. Furthermore, we find that utility from migration to specific countries may be explained by the heterogeneity of origin countries.

Short epidemiological overview of the current situation on COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast European (SEE) countries

“…From the government, all medical staff, including retired, private doctors or hospitals, medical graduate students are required to volunteer in this situation. Looking at this point, we hope to have a limited number of serious cases in order not to overload the health system [26,27]. The burden that will press on the region would be an additional challenge to the healthcare systems and economies.…”

Labor Economics and Career Development in the Context of Globalized World

“…The medical professions belong to highly demanding occupations worldwide, particularly in Europe, as the health care sector experiences the most severe labor shortages. Botezat and Ramos [15] analyze the inflow of doctors in the OECD countries from 2000 to 2016 and reveal that the inflow from Central and Eastern Europe (as well as from Africa and Asia) motivates a lower unemployment rate, fair remuneration of physicians, aging population, and the better level of medical technology. The decisive factor for obtaining a highly paid job and social integration of Eastern European migrants becomes the host country's language proficiency, but it does not guarantee employment or career progression [16].…”

Стратегии Миграции Врачей В Периферийные Муниципальные Образования (На Примере Тверской Области)

“…д. ]: в разрезе ана лиза миграции врачей из развивающихся стран в развитые [Brugha et al, 2016;Astor et al, 2005;George et al, 2013], из более бедных стран Восточной Европы в Западную Европу [Botezat, Ramos, 2020].…”