International student mobility and poverty reduction: A cross-national analysis of low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

While educational expansion is often acknowledged as a driving force in poverty reduction, there has been limited scholarly exploration of the influence of international higher education on poverty alleviation. With the dramatic surge of international student mobility, tripling from two million in 1997 to over six million by 2021, previous research has predominantly focused on individual benefits such as skill acquisition and labour market outcomes, overlooking the broader societal effects in students’ home countries. This study examines how international higher education influences poverty reduction in the home countries of students from low- and middle-income nations, drawing on a theoretical framework rooted in transnationalism. Employing dynamic panel data analysis with the System Generalised Method of Moments approach on data from 1999 to 2018, this study finds that while the immediate effect of international student mobility on reducing extreme poverty is not significant, its long-term association over a fifteen-year period is significant. These results suggest the transformative potential of international higher education for sustainable development, emphasising its systemic and long-term effects in poverty alleviation. Our research highlights that policy interventions expanding access to international higher education could be an important element of poverty reduction strategies in low- and middle-income countries.