Marko Lukic 10/29/13 GLOA 620

Human Impact on High-Skilled Labor Emigration: Analyzing the Psychosocial Effects of Brain Drain in Serbia

Abstract
This paper analyzes the human impact of Brain Drain in Serbia and how it relates to globalization as the main facilitator of massive labor vacuums in the developing world. Brain Drain refers to the departure of educated, high-skilled individuals from a developing economy in order to fill the gaps in services in more developed economies. The main problem with high-skilled emigration is that it creates shortages of technically skilled individuals in developing countries, which eventually produces greater disparities between the global North and South. This imbalance of vital human capital not only exacerbates global inequality, but also affects the overall morale and mental state of an entire society. By specifically focusing on the psychosocial outcomes of war, displacement, and emigration in Serbia, this analysis will attempt to locate the main factors of globalization that affect the developing worlds population and their future.

Introduction
International migration, specifically for the purpose of employment, has increased significantly over the last four decades. According to the World Bank the number of

immigrants in the world has more than doubled from 75 million in 1963, to over 191 million in 2005 (World Bank). The increase in the movement of people across borders has been facilitated by international integration and market liberalization. As goods and services are being transported more freely in a growingly interconnected economy, so are people as well. These migratory flows mainly occur from the developing to the developed world, as more and more people search for better economic opportunities abroad. This research paper narrows the analysis of high-skilled labor emigration from Serbia and the vast social and psychological affects it has had on Serbias young educated population. The first section will provide a brief overview of the history leading up to the era of brain drain in Serbia. The following section puts the emigration of Serbias most educated into perspective by discussing the push and pull factors as well as the tangible outcomes stemming from the departure of labor. The next section will briefly address psychosocial concerns, including shortages in the mental health sector. The second to last section will be allocated towards interviews that depict social attitude, and the concluding portion will touch on brain gain and the different ways through which Serbia is attempting to regain some of the imbalances caused by brain drain.

Overview
Throughout most of its history the Balkans has been typically referred to as a politically turbulent region. Eastern and Western powers have been fighting over influence of the peninsula for over 2,000 years, mainly due to its vital geographical location on a global scale. Frequent revolutions and ethnic wars have burdened the fabric

of society, as well as its economic well-being. The politically unstable climate has translated into many socioeconomic maladies, which as a result, have drastically affected recent migratory flows from the region. This section will provide a brief historical analysis of the context through which human capital flight in Serbia has taken its course, beginning from the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). It is important to note that under Josip Broz Titos regime (1943-1980) Yugoslavia was unlike any other communist state at the time. One of the original founders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Tito was determined to maintain stable relations between Eastern and Western powers while nationally implementing an egalitarian system of social democracy. Many argue that Tito was well aware of the direction that the international economy was heading towards, and as a result was attempting to prepare Yugoslavia to eventually integrate and capitalize its market (Anderson A12). Beginning in the 1960s, Tito allowed Yugoslavs to emigrate across international borders with the purpose of employment. Most people emigrated westward with temporary employee visas to work as low-skilled laborers or gastarbeiters (seasonal workers). This form of emigration continued until Titos death and gradual disintegration of SFRY in 1980. After Tito died Yugoslavia began to fall apart in the absence of a firm leader who was able to sustain unity among such an ethnically diverse population. Titos biggest fault was in inadequately preparing Yugoslavia for such an economic transition while having to deal with such an immense national deficit. Internal hostility, specifically over the future of the republic, began to increase as the country fell further into debt (Vaknin The Myths of Yugoslavia).

Economic burdens quickly turned political, which through the use of nationalist propaganda, eventually became one of the worst ethnic conflicts in European history. The civil wars in Yugoslavia began in 1991 and lasted throughout the entire decade, causing massive displacement and permanent emigration from the entire region. According to the UN, over 200,000 people were killed in the conflict, 2.7 million internally displaced, and about one million became refugees fleeing across international borders. Today, more than 330,000 of those refugees are still classified as such (Rekacewicz, UNEP).

The Era of Brain Drain

Emigration since the collapse of Yugoslavia has increased drastically due to a highly unproductive economy and a serious lack of available jobs. Both unemployment and underemployment are significant issues now, and as a result a degree is becoming less desirable among Serbias youth. Many of those who are college educated eventually leave the country to find a job market that fits their criteria and skill-set. On a grander scale, the immigration of a societys elites and brightest individuals creates an imbalance of capital that depicts the human side of global inequality. Brain Drain has affected Serbia in a multifaceted way, not only economically, but socially as well. The vast exodus of Serbias most educated individuals has been an issue for more than two decades now. Human capital flight from Serbia has not only influenced the economy of production and trade, but also the economy of ideas and creativity (Vujadinovic, BalkanKult Foundation). The later economy can be described as those factors that contribute to innovation, social progress, education, culture, and science.

According to economic theory, innovation and ideas are what drives long-term sustainable growth, and this is quite bluntly what Serbia is lacking. In other words, brain drain has significantly hindered the future of growth for Serbias research and development (R&D) sector could potentially path the way for innovation and advancements in technology, medicine, and science (Breinbauer, 14). ccording to Dren a Vu ovi a hD professor of political science at the University of Belgrade the main push factors of this phenomenon are low level of living standard, uncertainty, housing problems, material-technical conditions unfavorable for the scientific work, and lack of scientific information. High salaries, material-technical conditions favorable for the scientific work, widely available scientific information, possibility of promotion, and stability in the country one is attracted by, are the most important attracting factors (Breinbauer, 14-15). Due to all these push factors many students have been searching for opportunities abroad, mainly to study and forward their education where not only the quality of the education is better, but the possibility of social mobility is greater as well. According to a study conducted by the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, over 300,000 young educated adults between the ages of 25-35 have left Serbia over the past 25 years. Since 1990 about 12,000 have left annually, mostly immigrating to the US and Canada. Specifically between 1990-2000 82,000 have permanently settled in these two countries (Jukic, BalkanInsight). A survey conducted by USAID indicated that, out of 133 countries including Serbia, only Guinea-Bissau is losing a larger percentage of its educated youth (Andric, BalkanInsight).

Serbia has had a struggling population growth rate for more than two decades for many obvious political, social and economic reasons. It has mainly fluctuated since 1993 due to the large number of internally displaced people from various parts of former Yugoslavia who have mainly settled in Belgrade and its surrounding suburbs. However, since 1990 the annual growth rate has gone from +0.07% to -0.48% and has been experiencing a consistent downward trend each year since 2002 (World Bank, Data).

Psychosocial Outcomes
There is no doubt that morale is at an all-time low in Serbia. The growing psychological affects of war, sanctions, and a failing economy have encumbered the future of social progress for the entire region. In addition, the departure of creative capital has created implications not only for future development, but has also exacerbated the mental state of an already exhausted population. Both the educated and uneducated population who do not leave run the risk of falling under a 26% unemployment rate or becoming underemployed or complacent in a job not within their specification (CIA, World Factbook). This has had a vast psychosocial impact on society as a whole. As a result of the current economic state of Serbia, it seems as though a lack of self-esteem and achievement have had a negative impact on the overall social attitude of the population. Clinical depression, an increase in alcohol and drug abuse, and an overall decline in health, are all visible factors of the impact that the last two and half decades have had on Serbia. Last year in November, the Inter Press Service (IPS) did a story on a fisherman

from the outskirts of Belgrade who, over the last 14 years, has saved the lives of 25 individuals attempting to commit suicide by jumping into the Danube River. In an interview he was quoted saying: When I ask them why (they wanted to end their lives), they either say they were depressed or they could not take it any more. Times are really hard for people today. (Zimonjic, IPS) According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Serbia ranks 13th in the world in most suicides, at an annual rate of 14 suicides per 100,000 people. In 2011 alone there were a recorded 1,400 suicides in the country (Zimonjic, IPS). Due to such an immense labor vacuum, in addition to poor state funding and a lack of investment in the medical and health industries Serbias infrastructure has been left ill equipped and thus incapable of dealing with the growing mental and physical health concerns. According to Ministry of Health statistics, Serbia, with a population of 7.2 million, only has 350 certified psychotherapists and 900 psychiatrists in the entire country (Zimonjic, IPS). Last year at a national congress for mental health, Serbian Health Minister, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic stressed her concerns about the future of the states psychological well-being. By 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of absence from work The current number of psychotherapists and psychiatrists is not enough to deal with the issue and we are making an effort to improve the situation soon (Zimonjic, IPS) The Association of Psychotherapy Societies of Serbia (APSS) places the need for psychotherapists at between 6,000 and 8,000. Nadja Borovic, head of Belgrades largest psychiatry clinic, claims that about a third of the entire population suffers from some

mental disorder due to unemployment and growing poverty (Zimonjic, IPS). According to APSS, alcohol and drug abuse have become among the most concerning growing problems since the early 1990s. People with mental disorders and addiction problems are left incapable with solving their problems largely due to an absence of adequate professional services, and instead turn to drugs and alcohol as temporary mental escape. Prevalent drug abuse includes: marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and prescription pills. The Ministry of Health has reported that the tranquilizer drug bromazepan was the most frequently prescribed drug in the entire country in 2011. Doctors gave out 4.3 million prescriptions of the drug, while over three million were sold illegally within the same year (Zimonjic, IPS).

Interviews
The interviews conducted in this section give a sense of the human impact that brain drain has had on the general mindset of the young and educated population. Two interviews out of five have been selected for this research paper. Both interviewees are native to Serbia, being both born and raised there. The two individuals selected for this paper are: a doctor specializing in both oncology and hematology, and a 23 year old student from Belgrade who, through the Department of States Wor Travel rogram, worked in New York for six months earlier this year. Ivan Aksentijevich immigrated to the US about 25 years ago as a young medical student from the University of Belgrade. While Yugoslavia was becoming increasingly unstable Ivans aspirations to forward his education abroad intensified and motivated

him to finish at the top of his class upon graduation. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD and two fellowships in Hematology and Medical Oncology at John Hopkins University. Today he owns his own private practice and is also currently chair of the Cancer Committee at Alexandria Hospital in Virginia. Ivan has a wife and five kids who currently live a very comfortable lifestyle in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Him and his family try to travel to Serbia at least every other summer, mainly to visit family and for his children to be able to reconnect with their roots. He claims he would still like for his kids to continue to explore their heritage and foster an appreciation for their native culture. By frequently going back he admits that the Serbia that exists today is a very different Serbia than the one he grew up in. When asked to describe his life growing up as a child in Belgrade, he recalls mostly positive memories: Well first of all, Serbia wasnt Serbia. Well it was Serbia, but it belonged to Yugoslavia back then. It was different; people were happy but did not have much, we were still lazy then, but we were happy. We traveled to the Adriatic every summer and had a house in Montenegro. Back then people were able to travel to Europe and all over the world, something none of our (communist) neighbors could do at the time. But as I got older and began to put two and two together, I realized that this lifestyle probably wont last forever. Ivan recalls that after the years following Titos death things in Yugoslavia began to change. Nationalist movements slowly began to mobilize different groups against one another based on their religion and ethnicity. By the late 1980s it became quite apparent that Yugoslavia would most likely not be able to sustain itself as one unified socialist republic for much longer. As Ivan was preparing to receive his Bachelors degree in

Medicine in 1986 he had already made plans to come to the US in hopes of one day opening his own practice. I remember watching the news at that time and all of a sudden you start hearing about Slovenia wanting to declare its independence, and all these issues between the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. All of a sudden it was either between capitalism or socialism, democracy or communism. I remember arguing with one of my friends about how much longer until Yugoslavia splits up into different states. Five years? Ten years? I Didnt think a war would come of it at that time (1986)... Despite Serbias rough past Ivan still has confidence for the future of Serbias younger generations. He believes that despite brain drain, Serbia can still figure out a way to be competitive in the world market. He does admit however that it has seriously crippled the economy and certainly has not helped the overall attitude or mindset among a large portion of the population. Ivan also mentions that it has had profound consequences on the health care sector, with shortages of physicians and other medical professionals. Ivan also helped establish the NGO, Serbian American Medical Association (SAMA), which actively sends technical and financial support to health care and education in Serbia. He believes that this is one way to help the situation back home. In order to turn brain drain into brain gain actively successful members within Serbias broad diaspora from all over the world, must play an active role towards giving back. The second interviewee, a journalism and political science student at the University of Belgrade, has a substantially bleaker outlook on the future of Serbia. Jovana Rajic came to New York in May with a temporary J-1 Visa and worked as server at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan until October. While there, through a mutual friend
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from back home, she was able to get a short singing gig at a Serbian Restaurant downtown. She claims she immediately fell in love with New York and wants to return to live there once she graduates. Upon returning to Serbia, Jovana mentioned that it was difficult to get back used to the lifestyle after living in New York City. Belgrade will never seem so big to me anymore. Before I left I thought I lived in a metropolis. I was very wrong; New York is a metropolis. I loved the atmosphere, the food, and the people. In Belgrade you see only Serbs. In New York you have people from all over the world, from any place you can imagine. New York probably has a small community of every nationality. Its beautiful. Jovana believes that brain drain has created absolutely no hope for young people in Serbia. ccording to her the mindset among much of Serbias young generation is that in order to stay, one must either become a criminal or sell out and become a politician. There is a joke in Serbia: You want to make money? You only have two options. Either open up a bakery or a coffin making business. Because Serbs will always love to eat, and we are also sadly a dying population at the same time... Jovana loves Serbia but has become completely infatuated with the up-tempo, highly motivated Manhattan lifestyle and New York culture, that she plans on moving there in the near future. I want to at least live there (New York) while Im still youngbut who knows, I might want come back home one day when I am older when I have made money and can go into retirementRight now is a pretty depressing time to be a young person in Serbia, barely any of my friends have jobs and almost of them talk about potentially leaving one day.

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Brain Gain
lmost all the interviews conducted summarized Serbias young generation as jaded and/or anxious. After years of sanctions, bombing, and a crippled economy, the countrys youth has either developed a sense of urgency to emigrate somewhere where they wouldnt feel so limited, or stay and slip into this socially lethargic mental state of complacency. However, as mentioned in the first interview, there is still hope to be able to gain possible benefits in the future from highly trained immigrants living abroad. Ivan Aksentijevich is currently still actively involved with SAMA, an non-profit organization whose prime focus is to help Serbian American physicians and support their professional and humanitarian aspirations to improve health care conditions, patient care and medical education in Serbia (S M , Website). Other NGOs in Serbia have also taken active roles to try and capitalize on brain gain. The local development nonprofit organization, NALED (National Alliance for Local Economic Development) provides annual internships in Serbia for under and postgrad students who have left to study abroad. These internships are usually in partnership with Serbias Ministry of Diaspora to try and reconnect and strengthen its professional diasporic network (NALED, Website). In order to achieve brain gain through international migration, opportunities for flexible citizenship must be made possible for high-skilled diaspora. In India for example, emigration to the US is usually not viewed as a permanent departure. New strategies of flexible accumulation have promoted a flexible attitude toward citizenship (Chakravartty, 2-4). Flexible citizenship refers to the different manners through which strategies and disciplines are implemented that relate to transnational capitalism.

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Strengthening relationships and networks abroad can certainly help the situation in Serbia, but is unclear as to how big of an impact it would make unless the economic situation improves (Chakravartty, 2-4).

Concluding Thoughts
There is no doubt that brain drain has exacerbated global inequality in terms of human capital and creative capital. Due to the growing interconnectedness of the international market, countries all over the world have been suffering from massive shortages in various sectors that are vital for economic growth and social progress. In the case of Serbia, these issues have worsened the already fragile psychological health of a population that has, throughout most of its history, been engulfed in conflict, as well as economic and political strife. Serbia must first repair its failing infrastructure and strengthen education and opportunities for future generations. Serbia lacks stable structural and political institutions that should provide necessary tools for people to be able to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. The structure of our global economy facilitates human capital flight from the developing world, leaving poor countries even less resourceful than they were originally. Through focusing on investing in education, science, medicine and R&D Serbia would be better equipped to provide a better future for future generations.

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Sources
"Data: Serbia." The World Bank Working for a World Free of Poverty. The World Bank, Web. http://data.worldbank.org/country/serbia.

Anderson, Raymond. "Giant Among Communists Governed Like a Monarch." New York Times [New York City, NY] 05 May 1980, n. pag. Web. 10 May. 2013. Vaknin, Sam. "The Myths of Yugoslavia - Part II." Malignant Self Love. (2000): n. page. Print. <http://samvak.tripod.com/pp50.html>.

Rekacewicz, Philippe. "Refugees and displaced people from the former Yugoslavia since 1991." GRID ARENDAL. UNEP, 25 feb 2012. Web. <http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/refugees-and-displaced-people-from-theformer-yugoslavia-since-1991_0c5a>.

Breinbauer, Andreas. "Brain Drain Brain Circulation or ...What Else Happens or Should Happen to the Brains Some Aspects of Qualified Person Mobility/Migration." PIW. (2007): 1-33. Print. Ju ic Elvira. "Youth Emigration Causing Bal an Brain Drain." BalkanInsight. 01 Aug 2013. Web. <http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/young-people-leaveserbia-bosnia-the-most>. ndric Gordana. Lack of Opportunity in Serbia Causes Brain Drain. BalkanInsight. 10 Apr 2011. Web. < http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/lack-of-opportunitycauses-brain-drain>.

"Europe: Serbia." The CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ri.html>.

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Zimonjic, Vesna. "Serbia Sinks Into Depression." Inter Press Service News Agency. IPS, 11 Dec 2013. Web. <http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/serbia-sinks-intodepression/>. The Serbian merican Medical ssociation. SAMA. Mission Statement. Web. http://www.serbianama.org The National lliance for Local Economic Development. NALED. About us. Web. http://www.naled-serbia.org/about

Chakravartty, Paula. "The Emigration of High-Skilled Indian Workers to the United States: Flexible Citizenship and India's Information Economy." Center for Comparative Immigration Studies UC San Diego. (2000): 2-36. Print.

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