Publication

This paper examines the Australian-aid-funded Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC), which finances and conducts vocational training in Pacific island developing countries. The authors examine the college and addresse the part that countries who are destinations for skilled workers from developing countries can play in ensuring that these countries of origin do not lose out on their investment in workers who emigrate. Overall, the authors find that while the APTC has facilitated skill creation in the Pacific Island states, this has not led to the expected level of migration of those trained to New Zealand and Australia. They explain this finding and draw lessons for future initiatives that may seek to link skill creation to labor mobility.