## From Departure to Development: How Emigration Shapes Human Capital and Growth in Pacific Island Countries

_IMF Working Papers, September 11, 2026_

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**Canonical URL:** [From Departure to Development: How Emigration Shapes Human Capital and Growth in Pacific Island Countries](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2026/09/11/from-departure-to-development-how-emigration-shapes-human-capital-and-growth-in-pacific-579382)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Ruifeng Zhang, Yue Zhou
- Published: September 11, 2026
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229059091.001

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### Emigration patterns in Pacific Island Countries
- Traditional emigration: permanent relocation of young, highly skilled individuals, primarily to Australia and New Zealand.
- Recent emigration: expansion of labor mobility arrangements (LMAs) in Australia and New Zealand involving low-skilled young workers who typically return home.
- Skill mismatches observed: many emigrants classified as highly skilled work in low-skilled jobs abroad, indicating limited skill acquisition while abroad.

### Impacts on human capital and demographic landscape
- Brain drain: traditional emigration results in a brain drain in home countries.
- Education effects for LMA households:
  - Children of LMA workers are more likely to drop out of school, undermining human capital accumulation.
- Labor market effects:
  - LMAs can reduce youth unemployment in sending countries by providing temporary employment opportunities abroad.

### Macroeconomic and growth implications
- Near-term growth:
  - LMAs support near-term economic growth through remittances.
- Long-term output:
  - Increased school dropout among children of LMA workers limits long-term output gains by reducing future human capital.

### Policy findings and recommendations
- Temporary labor mobility as a development instrument:
  - Temporary labor mobility can be a helpful development instrument to mitigate brain drain and reduce youth unemployment.
- Complementary policies needed:
  - Safeguard children’s education in LMA households to prevent increased school dropout.
  - Promote the productive use of remittances to support sustainable development.
  - Strengthen skills development and job creation at home to capture long-term benefits of emigration and return migration.

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## Content in this bundle

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2026/09/11/from-departure-to-development-how-emigration-shapes-human-capital-and-growth-in-pacific-579382_