Publication

This study uses a database of health worker emigration from Africa to test whether exogenous decreases in emigration raise the number of domestic health professionals, increase the mass availability of basic primary care or improve a range of public health outcomes. The author suggests that Africa's generally low staffing levels and poor public health conditions are the result of factors entirely unrelated to international movements of health professionals. The study further argues that emigration has caused a greater production of health workers in Africa.