title: High-skilled labour mobility in Europe before and after the 2004 enlargement.
abstract: The extent to which international high-skilled mobility channels are forming is a question of great importance in an increasingly global knowledge-based economy. One factor facilitating the growth of high-skilled labour markets is the standardization of certifiable degrees meriting international recognition. Within this context, we analysed an extensive high-skilled mobility database comprising roughly 382 000 individuals from five broad profession groups (Medical, Education, Technical, Science & Engineering and Business & Legal) over the period 1997-2014, using the 13-country expansion of the European Union (EU) to provide insight into labour market integration. We compare the periods before and after the 2004 enlargement, showing the emergence of a new east-west migration channel between the 13 mostly eastern EU entrants (E) and the rest of the western European countries (W). Indeed, we observe a net directional loss of human capital from E → W, representing 29% of the total mobility after 2004. Nevertheless, the counter-migration from W → E is 7% of the total mobility over the same period, signalling the emergence of brain circulation within the EU. Our analysis of the country-country mobility networks and the country-profession bipartite networks provides timely quantitative evidence for the convergent integration of the EU, and highlights the central role of the UK and Germany as high-skilled labour hubs. We conclude with two data-driven models to explore the structural dynamics of the mobility networks. First, we develop a reconfiguration model to explore the potential ramifications of Brexit and the degree to which redirection of high-skilled labourers away from the UK may impact the integration of the rest of the European mobility network. Second, we use a panel regression model to explain empirical high-skilled mobility rates in terms of various economic 'push-pull' factors, the results of which show that government expenditure on education,per capitawealth, geographical proximity and labour force size are significant attractive features of destination countries.
authors.affiliation: Ernest and Julio Gallo Management Program, School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA petersen.xander@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0955-3483
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for the Analysis of Complex Economic Systems, IMT Lucca School for Advanced Studies, Lucca 55100, Italy.|Linkalab, Complex Systems Computational Laboratory, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Michelangelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puliga
mesh_terms: D002322:Career Mobility; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005062:European Union / Q000191:economics* / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D049674:History, 21st Century; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018803:Models, Economic
keywords: Europe; brain drain; high-skilled labour; human mobility; network science; push–pull migration model