Medical tourism and health worker migration in developing countries

- Examine the income distribution and welfare impacts of medical tourism in developing countries.
- Medical tourism expansion can help retain skilled health workers at home.
- Medical tourism expansion may crowd out medical provision in the public healthcare sector.
- Wages of unskilled workers can be reduced due to medical tourism expansion.

In developing countries of tourist destinations, an increase in medical tourism raises the wages in the medical tourism sector, thereby retaining skilled medical workers who otherwise leave the country. However, the expansion of medical tourism contracts the domestic healthcare services sector, causing lower labor productivity in the economy. Medical tourism can increase domestic welfare if the benefits from migration retention and tourism exports outweigh the losses in revenue and productivity declines.