Why is Diaspora Potential so Elusive? Towards a New Generation of Initiatives to Leverage Countries’ Talent Abroad
A new paper by the World Bank Institute looks at diaspora initiatives and related effects.
[WBI] The paper draws a parallel between a venture entrepreneur developing her high-risk high return venture with the help of a network of professional service providers and investors and an ‘overachiever’ diaspora-member constructing, with support of her own problem-solving networks, a project with her home country’s institutions. Its focus is on first generation (and sometimes second generation) ‘overachievers’ - diaspora members that left their country of origin and achieved extraordinary success in their new country of residence. By definition, overachievers have already gained status in life. Therefore, when they look at their country of origin for new professional opportunities, they have the luxury of sharing status, reputation, professional and financial resources’ with their countries of origin, rather than seeking to enhance their status as might be expected from diaspora members at early stages of their professional careers. Focusing on the first generation implies that, for practical purposes, the person in question remains part of their country of origin, sharing the same social networks and idiosyncrasies associated with shared experiences of going to the same school and university.
The objective of the paper is to develop an appreciative theory of diaspora engagement with home countries. Thereby, it theorizes on the basis of a wide range of evolving cases and draws on experiences of a nascent South-South network of practitioners involved in diasporas of highly skilled pilots. These experiences range from South Africa, New Zealand and Scotland to Armenia, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Hence the paper attempts to provide plausible hypotheses relevant to a policy maker rather than conclusive empirical evidence of the type familiar to a migration scholar.
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