Description
While the economic and fiscal disparities between North/West and South/East Member States are obvious, there is now a gap between these “sending” countries when it comes to their highly educated youth population. These disparities have led to deeper gaps in which Southern states are unable to develop as quickly as the Northern states. This, in turn, means that the South is not nearly as equipped to handle crises as swiftly as possible. While Portugal and Greece have made large improvements in regards to “re-brain” initiatives and research and development investments, there is still much more to improve. Meanwhile, Spain and Italy are only falling further behind, especially within the current pandemic environment. While this crisis is only one factor that helps show this gap, it serves to demonstrate how that gap is harmful for nations and can only worsen if the trend continues. Greece is notoriously known for its economic situation after the financial crisis and for its high numbers of brain drain, but the number of R&D increases between 2007 and 2017, have increased and changed 11 more than Spain and Italy. Portugal made a dramatic increase in R&D that specifically addresses underlying issues that facilitated brain drain and has therefore seen an improvement. For all Southern European Member States there needs to be further attempts to address foundational economic issues of the brain drain has led to change for the better.
Chair
Helen Callaghan
Discussant
Arianna Tassinari & Fabian Mushövel
Session Type
Panel 4
Topic
Culture & Political Economy
R&D Investments for Southern Europe: What Does “Brain Drain” and “Re-Brain” Mean in the Current 2020 Crises?
While the economic and fiscal disparities between North/West and South/East Member States are obvious, there is now a gap between these “sending” countries when it comes to their highly educated youth population. These disparities have led to deeper gaps in which Southern states are unable to develop as quickly as the Northern states. This, in turn, means that the South is not nearly as equipped to handle crises as swiftly as possible. While Portugal and Greece have made large improvements in regards to “re-brain” initiatives and research and development investments, there is still much more to improve. Meanwhile, Spain and Italy are only falling further behind, especially within the current pandemic environment. While this crisis is only one factor that helps show this gap, it serves to demonstrate how that gap is harmful for nations and can only worsen if the trend continues. Greece is notoriously known for its economic situation after the financial crisis and for its high numbers of brain drain, but the number of R&D increases between 2007 and 2017, have increased and changed 11 more than Spain and Italy. Portugal made a dramatic increase in R&D that specifically addresses underlying issues that facilitated brain drain and has therefore seen an improvement. For all Southern European Member States there needs to be further attempts to address foundational economic issues of the brain drain has led to change for the better.
