This dataset, a product of the Trade Team - Development Research Group, is part of a larger effort in the group to measure the extent of the brain drain as part of the International Migration and Development Program. It measures international skilled migration for the years 1975-2000.
The methodology is explained in: "Tendance de long terme des migrations internationals. Analyse à partir des 6 principaux pays recerveurs", Cécily Defoort.
This data set uses the same methodology as used in the Docquier-Marfouk data set on international migration by educational attainment. The authors use data from 6 key receiving countries in the OECD: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US.
It is estimated that the data represent approximately 77 percent of the world’s migrant population.
Bilateral brain drain rates are estimated based observations for every five years, during the period 1975-2000.