The geography of highly skilled international migration

Abstract

The present paper provides a research review of recent literature on international migration by the highly skilled. Its principal aim is to identify the themes which are being discussed, and suggest where research into the subject might best proceed. The paper begins by examining the existing framework for study. Definitions and data availability are discussed, followed by a consideration of theoretical perspectives and their attendant methodologies and models. This is followed by a review of the two most important perspectives in extant research, economic and socio-cultural, leading into a review of what is known about the geography of migration by the highly skilled. The systems described are subject to a process of management which is discussed in the penultimate section. Finally, the paper proposes future directions for research which involve a reconceptualisation of migration by the highly skilled as one element in the international movement of expertise. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.