The Net Benefit of Migration: The Case of Migrant Nurses from Ghana to the United Kingdom

Abstract

Skilled worker migration from Ghana to Europe and the USA has been on
the increase in recent years. These out-migrations bring enormous benefits
as well as costs but the net effect is yet to be ascertained. Using survey data
from 100 nurses practising in Ghana and a similar number practising in the
UK, this paper investigates their reasons for migrating and attempts to capture the net benefit of migration. The paper concludes that migration of
nurses brings positive net private benefit but this excludes social cost such
as the rise in mortality rates due to shortage of nurses, and other social costs
which do not easily lend themselves to valuation in monetary terms.