A $2,000 sacrifice

New Zealand’s academic high-achievers may give up a lot financially if they stay home.

The first findings from a new research project on this group show very high levels of migration, with those who remain in or return to NZ giving up almost $2,000 a week on average in income.

The study, by Prof. John Gibson of the University of Waikato Management School and Dr David McKenzie of the World Bank, focused on people who were among the best high school students in the nation over the 1976-2004 period.

This group was defined as members of NZ’s maths and chemistry Olympics teams, top scholars in the NZ Bursary examinations, and duxes at selected high-performing secondary schools.

The researchers attempted to track down these high-achievers and surveyed them on their education and job paths, migration experiences, and continued interactions with NZ if they were abroad.

“Twenty-four per cent of NZers with tertiary education live abroad, the highest rate in the OECD. We find even higher levels of migration among the academic high-achievers, with half of them abroad at age 30, and 70 per cent having worked or studied abroad by age 45,” says Dr McKenzie, himself an example of the phenomenon, having been top male scholar in the 1992 bursary examinations.

However, the research also shows high levels of return migration, with 35 per cent of the top scholars having returned to work in NZ by age 45, despite the much higher incomes they could earn abroad.

Prof. Gibson and Dr McKenzie also looked at why some of the academic high-achievers never migrate, and why some return.

Their results suggest that these decisions are driven more by preferences and career concerns than income opportunities.

“Those who studied sciences or foreign languages in secondary school are the most likely to go abroad, and their return is linked to whether they have family still in NZ, and their preference for NZ lifestyle factors,” says Dr McKenzie.

“Top students who get a PhD and marry a foreign citizen are much less likely to return to NZ.”

The authors caution that these high migration rates should not necessarily be viewed as brain drain or as detrimental to NZ.

“High educational achievement is very much a result of migration, rather than a determinant,” says Prof. Gibson.

“More than 50 per cent of these top students who have graduate degrees and 73 per cent of those with PhDs studied abroad.

“Many returned migrants have gained knowledge learned abroad, while current migrants continue to interact with NZ in a variety of ways. Our on-going research is attempting to quantify the impact of this high-skilled emigration on NZ’s economy.”

Finally, the research shows current migrants have quite different views about what would attract them back, compared to many of the ideas dominating popular discussion of ways to tackle the brain drain.

In particular, student loans are not mentioned as an important factor in either migration or return decisions.

“Given the vast income difference between opportunities abroad and in NZ, tinkering at the margins of income tax rates may also hold little promise for drawing these top scholars back,” says Dr McKenzie.

Instead the researchers found many high achievers working abroad highlight the poor quality and limited funding opportunities of the research environment in NZ.

“This is particularly important for scientists, who note that funding for scientific laboratories is very limited in NZ compared to overseas, and that in particular fields such as genetic engineering, NZ regulations make it very difficult for them to carry out their work,” says Prof. Gibson.

“Given these circumstances, it is often only family and lifestyle reasons that draw them back here.”