Ghorpade, YashodhanImtiaz, Muhammad SaadHan, Theingie2024-08-232024-08-232024-08-21https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42079In recent years, Myanmar has witnessed considerable economic and political instability, leading many young people, particularly the higher-skilled, to consider migrating abroad for improved prospects. This paper employs an innovative method to quantify migration intentions among high-skilled youth by analyzing the take-up of migration at different wage premia. A randomized survey experiment then evaluates how hypothetical political and economic stabilization scenarios impact these intentions. The findings show that 35 percent of the respondents would be willing to take a similar job abroad for pay equal to their current income. Randomization within the survey indicates that political stabilization would potentially reduce high-skilled workers’ desire to migrate by about 15 percent, especially among men, those living in high-conflict areas, and persons with lower absolute income but higher perceived relative income. In contrast, prospects of economic stabilization do not have a significant effect on migration intentions. In the absence of political stability and a reduction in conflict, economic stabilization is unlikely to reduce talent outflows among the young.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOMIGRATIONEMIGRATIONMYANMARBRAIN DRAINHIGH-SKILLED MIGRATIONCONFLICTSUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIESSDG 11SDG 8PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONSSDG 16DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTHWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-10878