Essays on growth and migration

Essays on Growth and Migration is a collection of papers that analyze how two particular factors, the brain drain and the intellectual property rights (IPR), affect the economic performance of a given country. The theoretical models are constructed and illustrative empirical examples are provided in order to understand better the role of these factors in the process of economic development. Brain drain refers to migration of high-skilled, trained and talented individuals. Even though it was commonly perceived as one of the elements that significantly affected income differences between countries, the recent empirical evidence indicates that the impact of brain drain on growth and income level of the migrants' sending countries is complex and ambiguous. This thesis presents two mechanisms through which the brain drain impacts the economic performance of a country. The first one refers to the effect that prospect of brain drain might have on decisions concerning the type education to be acquired. The second one focuses on the flows of foreign direct investments as a consequence of migration of highly skilled individuals. These theoretical findings are followed by illustrative empirical examples. The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), refers to legal, exclusive rights to use various types of creations of the mind, such as inventions, names, trademarks, designs etc. This thesis studies the effects of imperfect IPR protection on countries’ growth rates and income levels. It claims that strengthening an IPR regime in a country improves its position in the world's productivity rank, whereas the level of import tariffs tends to be insignificant. This theoretical result is supported by an empirical example.