Empirically analyzing the future intentions of Pakistani students to stay or leave: Evidence from China

Abstract

The rise of China as a new destination for international students has been widely reported in both the domestic and international mass media, but academic research into the phenomenon and its theoretical implications are lacking. The aim of this study is to investigate empirically the factors that influence the decision-making process of Pakistani students to stay or leave China after completing their studies. For this purpose, we undertook a survey of 189 Pakistani students recently studying in different universities of Beijing, China, through a structured questionnaire technique and apply a binary logit model. Based on the survey results, the majority of Pakistani students are willing to stay and work in the future in China. While a large number of the survey respondents are thinking that wages in China are high, the working environment is better and the lifestyle is better in China as compared to Pakistan. In addition, a group of considerable survey respondents is cynic about limited job opportunities for foreigners in China.