Understanding ‘brain flows’ as different problems in regions.

Frans Coenen University of TwenteArnoud Lagendijk Radboud University NijmegenAlexandra David Institute for Work and Technology, Gelsenkirchen

Introduction

• Material is taken from INTERREG IVC Brain flow mini program subproject Button

• Thematic of the project and whole mini-program.

• Flows of brains are natural phenomenon with positive and negative consequences depending on the perspective

• Defining a problem is not solving it.

Regions

Detmold (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)Hedmark (Norway)Navarra (Spain)Twente (Overijssel, Netherlands) Arnhem-Nijmegen (Gelderland Netherlands)Nordwestschweiz/ Basel (Switzerland).

How and why can we categorize ‘brain flow’ as a problem in a specific region?’

- What are the flows?

- What are the brains that flows?

- What area the consequences?

- What are the causes?

What are the flows?

• Brain drain • (Brain drain retention)• Brain attraction• Brain circulation• Brain gain

What are the ‘brains’ that flow?

Three perspectives:

•Finished education level

•Skills needed in the region

•Contribution to economic welfare

Problem perception: social, economic and environmental consequences of

brain flow1. As a demographic problem; brain drain leads to depopulation or

disturbance of demographic structure (because the young educated go),

2. As a labour market demand problem of job fulfilment, a negative balance of graduates; people leave that are needed in the region;

3. As a shortage of human capital problem, operationalized as the percentage of high educated persons in the population. which has consequences for the social and economic development of a region

4. As a fiscal problem, as invested government money in education is lost

Causes of brain flows; push and pull factors

• Clustering of economic activities

• Employment and career possibilities• Settlement factors • Relative independent occurrences

Demographic perspective

Labour market

Human capital

Human capital needed

Ideal-typical categories

• Classical brain drain region• Shortage region• Brain attraction region• Commuter region

Use and problems

• No ‘one size fit all solutions’ (f.i. founding an university)

• Potential measures are linked with causes and consequences

• Not all factors are manipulable• We are not sure about mechanisms (for instance

jobs follow people)• Time dimension