Marketing Educational Improvements via International Partnerships Under Brain-Drain Constraints

Abstract

We study the dynamics in a partnership between a university and a developing region. We examine how the university achieves its goals to improve and advertise its offerings while recruiting a cohort of students from the developing region, and maintaining a sustainable relationship with the region and its students. We show that mutually beneficial partnerships can arise, particularly when both the university and the region exhibit strong preferences towards cohort students returning to work at home. We further show such partnerships can help induce developing regions to invest in developing domestic opportunities.

Keywords: Partnerships, education, brain drain, game theory, higher-education marketing

JEL Classification: D61, C70, D40