An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People

Suciu, Marta-Christina; Florea, Cristina Andreea Article An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People Amfiteatru Economic Journal Provided in Cooperation with: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies Suggested Citation: Suciu, Marta-Christina; Florea, Cristina Andreea (2017) : An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People, Amfiteatru Economic Journal, ISSN 2247-9104, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Vol. 19, Iss. 46, pp. 727-741 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/169101 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ International Migration ‒ Economic Implications AE Vol. 19 • No. 46 • August 2017 727 AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE MIGRATION AMONG YOUNG SKILLED AND CREATIVE PEOPLE Marta - Christina Suciu1 and Cristina Andreea Florea2 1)2) The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania Please cite this article as: Suciu, M.C. and Florea C.A., 2017. An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People. Amfiteatru Economic, 19(46), pp. 727-741 Article History Received:15 March 2017 Revised: 15 May 2017 Accepted: 24 june 2017 Abstract In the context of a knowledge and innovative-based society and economy, smart and creative cities are attracting an increasing number of young people, most of them being gifted, very talented students and high-skilled workforce, with multiple competences. These young people are pro-active and they involve themselves on enhancing the progress of the community in which they are living. Many cities are facing a higher rate of brain drain, as a consequence of the quality of life and the low level of wages considering also a reduce level of acceptance and implementation of innovative solutions. In the last decades migration phenomenon had been amplified and there is an increased young people migration from emergent countries to the innovation driven countries, witch assure more financial stability and favourable conditions to contribute to both personal and professional development for its residents. Through an empiric research, we have identified the most important factors which contribute to the amplified migration among youths. We have also highlighted the motivational elements for returning to homeland, when the socio-economic situation is favourable. The paper includes also a set of recommendations that could create a proper framework to attract talented, skilled and creative youth, regardless their origin country. Keywords: immigration, development, welfare, creative class, investments in education JEL Classification: J11, J13, J15, J24, J61, O15, R23 Introduction The migration phenomenon is one of the most debated issues within the specialized literature all over the world. One recent research provided by Eurostat on migration (2016) highlights that this phenomenon is influenced by a synergetic action of a set of interconnected factors (economic, political, social and ambient) which determine the population to migrate from  Corresponding author, Marta - Christina Suciu - [email protected] AE An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People 728 Amfiteatru Economic one place to another. The relative economic prosperity, the access to high quality services and the political stability inside the European Union borders, are consider to be the main vectors that attract immigration towards UE. In the past years, the migration problem has become an important and relevant aspect. According to Eurostat, in 2015, the relative share of national immigrants, in other words immigrants with the citizenship of the EU Member State to which they were migrating, within the total number of immigrants had the highest value in Romania (87% of all immigrants), while in Lithuania was at 83%, in Hungary was at 56%, in Croatia at 55%, in Latvia at 52%, in Estonia at 52% and in Portugal was at 50%. People, regardless of their age, are choosing emigration from different personal reasons and conjuncture situations. Referring to the youngest one, these people could develop and increase their self-respect and improve their abilities and skills, such as to succeed in their professional lives and to be mostly appreciated within their communities. According to statistical data available on Eurostat (2015), a high number of youth people choose to migrate in other countries. Immigrants into EU Member States in 2015 were, on average, much younger than the local population from UE countries in which they migrate. The median age of the total population of the EU-28 was 42 years and 6 months. While, the median age of immigrants moved to EU-28 countries in 2015 was 27 years and 5 months (Eurostat, 2016). The issue of migration phenomenon is highly complex, and it has strong connections with all the economic, social, political and environmental aspects. In the context of the knowledge and innovation-based society and economy migration is connected and related, mostly in the case of cultural and creative sectors and of the creative and smart communities with their specific which presents a great interest mostly for young people in general and for those young people that are doing business in creative sectors, people who are considered by Richard Florida to belong to a special category of creative class (Florida, 2002). The theory of the creative class launched first since 2002 by Richard Florida (Florida, 2002) assumes that a region is more and more developed, from a social, cultural and economic point of view as it has the capability to attract and concentrate a high number of creative residents. In other words, creative and talented people are more interested and manifest a certain predilection for those regions and communities that seem to meet their requirements. Our research had been focus on the identification of the main motivations and preferences manifested by teenagers in their attempt to change their residential place and to move in other countries in order to study, improve their knowledge level and to be able to increase their revenues. These factors are usually connected with a better career management and development such as to benefit also from a higher socio and professional status to be recognized in the case of the creative people within their local communities. We had also taken into account the possibility of young skilled and creative people to return in their homeland. Thus within our quantitative research we had focus mostly on three most important issues concerning youth migration: the main reasons considered to determine their decision to emigrate; the factors that can be taken into account in order to influence in a higher manner the skilled and creative people to return to their homeland, analysed in connection with the main consequences and potential benefices of skilled and talented young people migration International Migration ‒ Economic Implications AE Vol. 19 • No. 46 • August 2017 729 on the well-being and development of the local communities and correspondingly on the whole economic, social and cultural development. In order to target the main goals of our paper we had included in the first part of the paper a brief literature review based on a critical analysis of the main issues identified based on our investigations. Based on these approaches, we had validated some of the most important hypothesis through our own research analysis. 1. Brief literature review Our brief literature review is based on the analysis of some of the most relevant published works that focus on our research issue, with special references to the skilled and creative young people and correspondingly to the potential favourable consequences on the long-run of their return in their homeland. One of the most representative authors in the field of creative economy, creative class and creative and smart communities is Richard Florida. According to Richard Florida, the migration phenomenon deals especially with the main opportunities provided in order to contribute to an increasing well-being and wealth based on a higher skilled and talented people that have a significant impact on the long run socio and economic development of the creative regions and communities (Florida, 2008). Smart, creative and innovative communities are considered to be an important proactive component for a long run smart, sustainable and inclusive development, both on the national and regional levels. These communities are offering viable solutions that have to contribute for the long run prosperity and competitiveness of the local regions. These creative and smart communities are different as compared with the traditional ones concerning their prosperity, multiculturalism, tolerance and diversity, all of these being important ingredients that facilitate the active manifestation of the entrepreneurship on the local level based on exploring people creativity and innovative spirit. The impressive urban centres and agglomerations areas had always managed to attract an increasing number of tourists and migrants, because they had been considered as cultural, creative and innovative centres. They are in the same time supporting the innovative activities such as those belonging to the cultural and creative sectors that are specific for a creative economy. Creative and innovative communities are also based on a strong collaboration between the private and public sectors based on the public and private partnership. Among the most important issues of migration concerns the reconsideration of some of the connected aspects such as brain drain in accordance to the new approach considering brain circulation and returning phenomenon. Thus it is very important to identify the main actions by which young skilled and creative people can be attracted to return to their homeland where they have to be able to implement and apply the knowledge and skills accumulated during the abroad training, instructions and mobility programmes, proving their ability to adopt these in accordance with the national and local specific. Another important issue regarding the migration phenomenon is referring to the integration of immigrants in their social and cultural community where the act as students, employers, business man, entrepreneurs. AE An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People 730 Amfiteatru Economic 2. Research methodology The paper applies a quantitative research. We had applied a questionnaire which has been submitted to individuals at the regional level, through which we have analysed the perception of young and skilled workforce, regarding the migration phenomenon. We used a structured survey, targeting youth between 15 and 30 years old. The main reasons taken into account in order to choose these categories are:  Youth are more attracted and tempted living their homeland,  The supply of educational programmes dedicated to youth provide them the opportunity not only to study but also to benefit on exchange experience and sharing idea with other experts.  Skilled and creative young people have a higher attempt and propensity to perform into key domains such as ITC (Information Technologies and Communications) and to improve both their professional and personal set of core competences, knowledge, abilities and inter-personal communication skills (mostly soft skills). Taken into account the complexity of our research, we structured the survey into six sections.  The first section was the introduction, in which we specify the reason for this research and the main characteristics of the analysed topic.  The second section was designed for capturing general information about the respondent (such as gender, age, education, residence, etc.), issues that are important when we interpret the results in a differentiated way according to the main group targeted group structure.  In the third section we analyse the phenomenon of external migration, in which we tried to identify the main factors of migration, the country in which the respondents prefer to migrate and the domains in which they want to perform.  In the fourth section, we study the possibility of attracting youths back to Romania and the factors which may contribute and support their returning to the homeland.  The fifth section is analysing the correlation between the migration phenomenon and regional development.  The last section was ending the survey. For this survey we had used a multiple Likert scales, in order to identify in a deeper and more complex analyse the impact of migration phenomenon and the perception of youth regarding this topic. With respect to our sample we tried in the first instance to assure its statistical representativeness regarding the gender structure and the territory localization in line with the residence county from where they are coming. With respect to their age, the majority of respondents are under 20 years old. Regarding their educational background they are belonging to high schools or universities (both from the bachelor and Master levels). International Migration ‒ Economic Implications AE Vol. 19 • No. 46 • August 2017 731 3. Main results of our research Our main findings that had emerged from our quantitative research had illustrated that respondents prefer the international migration then the intra-regional movement. A significant part of the respondents had mentioned as potential destinations for their migration cities from outside Romania, the most frequently being part from countries such as: United Kingdom, United States of America, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and Austria. This indicates an increasing tendency of emigration of young population. In order to better interpret our main important research results we have to take into account the fact according to which within our sample the majority of the investigate people had been chosen especially from the young generations group because these people are considered to have a higher creative potential. These people manifest a special propensity and preference to emigrate towards those regions that seem to offer a variety of jobs and occupational opportunities, regions that have also a higher socio-cultural level of development offering in the same time multiple and diverse alternative for loisir and entertainment as an important issue in their attempt to assume an active life style, fact that is quite specific to our target group. We had taken into account when deciding about our target group structure the most important goal of our research that had focus on skilled and creative young people, from which the majority are represented by generation „Y” called also the Millennium generation. Our preference for this kind of target group had been influenced by the previous studies and similar research identified all of the world in the literature dedicated to creative economy and knowledge and innovation based society. For example we mention the research specially dedicated to the creative class provided by Richard Florida and his team from the Prosperity Institute who had launched this concept since 2002 (Florida, 2002). We had mentioned these issues and approaches in the first part of this paper dedicated to literature review. Now we will briefly present some of the most relevant results and findings that had arisen from our research. 3.1 The youth’s most preferred countries for migration. Main factors that influences migration among young people from our research sample According to our study, based on a survey applying quantitative method, students prefer as countries of destinations in the first instance United Kingdom (figure no. 1). Even after BREXIT, our students seem to prefer United Kingdom as the proper location for studying, developing their knowledge and abilities, and also for improving their earnings. Youths included into our sample had declared that they prefer regions that abound in social and cultural events, which offer diverse areas for socializing and relaxing. It is very important to them to be able to identify which is the region in which they are living, in order to contribute to the local and regional development and to increase these regions visibility. For instance, according to our study, the respondents affirm that the offer for public and private events in their residence city is under the average level. Using a five levels Likert scale (Şandor, 2011), the relative score obtained for cultural public events was at 2.63 points, while the score obtained for cultural private events was at 2.90 points. AE An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People 732 Amfiteatru Economic Figure no. 1: The youth’s most preferred countries for migration Taken into account the fact according to which all over the world the region identity and its visibility are two important issues, mostly in the context of globalization and increasing competitiveness, we consider that there have to be highlighted the most important regions characteristics that express the local specificity in order to contribute to the preservation of the cultural identity and to an increasing visibility of the intangible cultural heritage of the local communities. Everybody have to contribute such as our national heritage to be preserved and recognized not only on the local communities’ level but also on the international level. Many of the international approaches presented in previous published works (Suciu, 2002, 2004) suggest that we are at a turning point and we need to shift from a mentality that promotes globalization towards glocalization and promoting the cities diplomacies, mostly in the case if smart and creative cities and communities. Within previous research grants, such as the research project „Parteneriate 92116”, won on competition basis in 2008 that had run between 2008-2011, we had also supported the idea of diversity and talent management based on the promotion of intercultural sensitivity and dialogues (Suciu and Neagu, 2013). Taking into consideration that visibility and the brand of cities are elements that determine youth to migrate in a specific place, we consider that public authorities should develop, promote and invest in increasing the acknowledge and visibility of their regions in order to preserve our national identity and to keep our intangible cultural heritage that is recognized also by international prestigious organizations such as UNESCO (a part of our national heritage is included within UNESCO heritage). In line with the digital era, more efforts have to be done in order to register our national heritage within digital libraries, both on the European and international levels. Millennium generations are mostly sensitive to this kind of promotion and that might contribute a lot to the promotion of our country and regions and to the development of tourism including cultural tourism. Romania can benefit a lot for developing this sector of activity (cultural tourism) that is considered to be a distinguished field of activity belonging to the cultural and creative sectors that are having a higher International Migration ‒ Economic Implications AE Vol. 19 • No. 46 • August 2017 733 importance under the auspices of a creative economy and knowledge and innovation based society. Regarding the reasons which determine youth to migrate in other countries, the most important issues identified within our research study are referring to their propensity to improve their level of knowledge by acquiring new knowledge and by developing a set of core competences and skills (not neglecting the soft skills) that have an important role both for professional and personal development. Among the significant challenges and changes regarding the life style of the young generation, lifelong learning becomes a part of all our lives contributing a lot to a competent management of the complex and dynamics society within we have to cope by co-creation and collaboration developing specific networking and interactive platform of co-operations suitable mostly for creative and smart communities such as creative and smart cities. In order to preserve and increase the vitality of these communities we have to stimulate and value the creative and innovative potential of young people. As a snow ball effect, as far as smart and creative communities have more vitality and are more famous and benefit on a world-wide recognition, they will attract more and more creative and innovative people to that regions contributing to an increasing prosperity and well-being of all the people that co-exist, co-create and collaborate living within that area. Thus local authorities and the local decision makers have to adopt and apply a coherent set of public policies in order to manage in a competent way the more complex issues faced by local communities and by the learning organizations (LO) that are developing inside these smart and creative communities (Thomas and Allen, 2006). Education and investment in lifelong learning are other important factors that influence a lot migration, mostly on its international dimension determined by complex phenomenon such as brain drain and brain circulation. The new approaches that had been briefly presented on the literature review part suggest an important shift from brain drain (that is mostly in the favour of the most developed countries of the world) towards brain circulation that had to be taken into account by all the countries all over the world in order to focus on the measures to be taken by decision makers on different levels in order to contribute and determine the return to their homeland of mostly smart, skilled and creative people. This is considered to be a high level priority in special dedicated strategies and policies such as those promoted within “Creative Europe” initiative and programmes, with a corresponding projection on the national level - “Creative Romania”. On our research, we questioned respondents about their opinion with respect to the Romanian educational system. According to our findings, with respect to the number of learning units we found this to be above average (with an average score of 3.85 points on a five levels Likert scale), while concerning the need for quality improvements in higher education we had found an average score of 3.14 points on a five levels Likert scale. In figure no. 2 we present our findings concerning the quality of public and private higher education institutions. AE An Empirical Study on the Migration Among Young Skilled and Creative People 734 Amfiteatru Economic [] [] [] [] Figure no. 2: The main preferences for public or private education institutions with respect to their quality of education and teaching methods In accordance with the responses collected among our sample the quality of public learning institutions seems to be higher as compared with the one from the private educational institutions. These results express an increasing confidence and trust in the public schools and in the efficiency of public education. The investment in education and especially lifelong learning investments are considered to be an important factor for youth migration. Many of teenagers had declared that they prefer to learn on a top ranked university from abroad instead of choosing a Romanian university. The secondly issue is referring to the earnings and revenues, which have an average score of 7.24 on a scale with 10 levels. These findings result mostly from the uncertainty of jobs in Romania, from the lack of jobs destined for youth without experience and from the poorly-paid jobs. The third reason why youths prefer to live their homeland is referring to the possibility of making economies and then to invest or spent in their country on long-term goods. Starting from the concept of visibility, we tried to identify the perception of respondents regarding the city in which they are living. Using a Likert scale with five levels, the average score obtained for the visibility of the city is 2.81. The respondents manifest a positive attitude regarding the visibility of the residence city. Overall, respondents identify with the city they live in (the score obtained was at 2.88 points on a five levels Likert scale), and about 54% of them affirm that they are living in so called metaphorically taking as “the right place”. On the other side, the city does not seem to inspire young people, nor gives energy to the respondents (about 60% of respondents manifest the same attitude). Unfortunately this situation might lead to an increasing emigration rate. International Migration ‒ Economic Implications AE Vol. 19 • No. 46 • August 2017 741 research development. The area in which we had tried to develop our research had certain original ingredients and even it have to be improved we consider that, based on our first results, our study highlights not only some relevant issues but it also includes some recommendations for the decision makers that have to adopt some coherent policies in order to support a regional and national long run sustainable development. For further research we intend to develop our research and to enlarge its perspective by taking into account a variety of more complex issues and highlighting the importance of social, economic and cultural policies in an attempt to deal with a complex topic such as migration, mostly in the case of an emergent country like Romania. References Florida, R, 2002. The rise of the creative class and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Book. Florida, R., 2008. Who is your city? 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