KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's best and brightest give up nearly $2000 a week to stay here and work.
A study, by Professor John Gibson of the University of Waikato Management School and Dr David McKenzie of the World Bank, focused on people who were among the best high school students over the 1976 to 2004 period.
It found those who stayed, or returned to work here, gave up almost $2000 a week on average in income.
The group was defined as members of maths and chemistry Olympics teams, top scholars in bursary examinations, and duxes at selected high-performing secondary schools.
The researchers surveyed the group on their education and job paths, migration experiences, and continued interactions with New Zealand if they were overseas.
"Twenty-four per cent of New Zealanders with tertiary education live abroad, the highest rate in the OECD," they said.
"We find even higher levels of migration among the academic high-achievers, with half of them abroad at age 30, and 70 per cent having worked or studied abroad by age 45," Dr McKenzie said.
However, the research also found high levels of return migration, with 35 per cent of the top scholars having returned to work in this country by age 45, despite the much higher incomes they could earn overseas.
Dr McKenzie said those who studied sciences or foreign languages were more likely to go overseas.
"Top students who get a PhD and marry a foreign citizen are much less likely to return to New Zealand."
Many high achievers working overseas said the poor quality and limited funding opportunities of the research environment in New Zealand was the reason they were less likely to return.
- NZPA
