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How can talent abroad induce development at home? Towards a Pragmatic Diaspora Agenda
This is a book about the “how to” of one of the most important aspects of diaspora engagement — leveraging countries’ talent abroad to support development at home. The understanding that the diaspora (emigrants and their descendants who retain ties to their countries of origin or ancestry) can be a critical partner for development has emerged fairly recently, due in large part to the experience of two new global powers — China and India — whose rise to prominence owes much to the contributions of their talent abroad. In the amazingly short span of about 15 years, the importance of the diaspora to development has evolved from a novel and somewhat heretical hypothesis to conventional wisdom. Now it is commonly acknowledged that diasporas can be important, but the path of developing policies and programs to help realize the promise of diasporas has been fraught with frustration and disappointment. Diaspora contributions seem to come spontaneously rather than as a result of policy interventions; they are a matter of serendipity. By focusing on policy interventions that effectively promote diaspora contributions, the book fills an important gap in the literature.