An Extended Solow Growth Model with Emigration: Transitional Dynamics and Skills Complementarity

In this paper we develop an extended Solow growth model with skilled labor emigration which aggregates different labor types from strict complementarity to perfect substitution. Except in two particular cases, balanced growth paths can only be attained asymptotically. We therefore derive an analytical characterization of the transitional dynamics of the model. We are thus able to study the impact of labor elasticity of substitution on the time pattern of per capita income in the country that experiences brain drain. Simulations show that the shape of per capita trajectory depends crucially on the degree of complementarity (substitutability) between labor skills. Given that no income trajectory dominates the others, there is room for policy issues by influencing the elasticity of substitution (Klump and Preissler, 2000).