The Russia-China Migration and Human Capital Nexus

On April 14, 2010, Dr. Harley Balzer, Associate Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University delivered a lecture on “The Russia-China Migration and Human Capital Nexus”.  The event was moderated by Dr. Judyth Twigg, Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Balzer used the globalization of world commerce to examine the phenomenon of brain drain, brain gain, and brain recirculation as a process of greater integration, using Russia and China as case studies. Dr. Balzer focused on the human capital exchanges between these two countries and gave compelling reasons behind the factors driving cross-border traffic between them and the asymmetry between the number of Russians migrating to China and the number of Chinese migrating to Russia. Economic opportunity, cost of living, and family decisions compel the decisions of skilled migrants to a new area.

Additionally, the effects of the economic crisis on Russia and China were shown to have implications on the volume and direction of migration. Factors, such as Russia’s continued dependence on hydrocarbons, made it less resistant to the crisis, where as China has fared much better after the crisis because it has not relied strictly on exports.  This creates greater momentum behind ingress of Russian labor relative to the egress of Chinese labor to Russia.

The discussion following Dr. Balzer’s presentation was aimed at the types of policy responses that migration should elicit from the Russian government in hedging against a decreasing GDP linked to a shortage of labor.