This study was conducted in the form of historical analysis to understand and determine the various ways that human capital flight, better known as brain drain, has impacted Haiti and how occurrences such as political events, have influenced brain drain in return. The first research question seeks to identify determinants in Haiti that contribute to brain drain. An analysis shows that the three main contributors are the economy, healthcare, and education. The economy is a major factor because of the mishandling and insufficient availability of funding to provide and maintain job prospects. It also affects healthcare and education because Haiti is not financially stable and the country does not have enough social capital to apportion to those systems. Healthcare is a contributing factor to brain drain because the pay to healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses, who are lacking inaccessibility, is lower than in other countries. Another contributor to brain drain is education because the education system is weak and not only do few individuals acquire post-secondary education, there are few opportunities to advance in specialized fields of interest and conduct meaningful research. Also, the country does not have enough money to provide upgraded, recent resources and materials needed for research and studies.
Brain drain has impacted political development because there are not enough policies to address many of the issues faced by Haiti, while economic development has been affected because the output of human capital is not enough to sustain the lost capital from highly-skilled emigrants. The development of education has been impacted by brain drain in the same way that education has influenced brain drain through the absence and lack of necessary educational resources, which is a result of the very low funding allocated to post-secondary education. The lack of job and career opportunities, as well as opportunities to advance in education, motivates Haiti’s educated professionals to leave the country.
The presidential reign of Francois Duvalier was imperative in influencing the brain drain epidemic that plagues Haiti because many Haitians emigrated to places such as the Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada, and Cuba. The reasons behind the emigration were as a result of many changing policies and rules that were enforced that placed many people’s lives in jeopardy. In fear, numerous Haitians left the country for better career and lifestyle opportunities abroad and the number of documented Haitians that have left the country has continued to increase annually.
