The mutually reinforcing relation between international migration of highly educated labour force and economic crisis: the case of Greece

Abstract

Although several studies aim at analysing the causes and impacts of the current economic crisis, especially involving the case of Greece, the role that highly educated population holds has not received wider attention. Based on an examination of both secondary data on the Greek economy/labour market and primary data collected by a survey that included 1821 graduates, this paper shows that underutilization of highly educated population harmed the competitiveness of the Greek economy, a factor which has significantly contributed to the creation of the current debt crisis and fostered the migration of graduates.