The new issue of Migration Policy Practice covers a range of policy areas, including on new methods to process and enhance census data in Australia; the role of the business sector in encouraging more proactive migration policies in the interest of economic growth; new approaches to measuring the costs of brain drain; a review of the Second Basic Plan for Immigration Policy in the Republic of Korea (2013–2017); and the effects of female emigration on children and the elderly left behind.

The lead article in this issue of MPP, by Andrew Middleton and David Smith, respectively from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection, discusses the results of a new project to enhance census data by enabling migrant records from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s Settlement Database to be linked to the corresponding migrant records from the 2011 census.

The second article, by Khalid Koser, Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Migration, provides a variety of examples from around the world of business sector initiatives to promote selective labour mobility. According to a 2012 World Economic Forum report, one of the main impediments to talent markets is private and public constraints on mobility.

The third article, by George Joseph and Quentin Wodon, both from the World Bank, proposes a very simple method for estimating the potential loss in a country’s education investment by using benefit incidence analysis techniques that combine data on public spending for education and household surveys that identify the education level of international migrants.

The fourth article, by June Lee of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), discusses the key objectives and implications of the Second Basic Plan for Immigration Policy (2013–2017) of the Republic of Korea.

The final article, by Michaella Vanore and Melissa Siegel, from the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, seeks to explore the ways in which growing emigration of women, who are often the primary caregivers of children and the elderly in the household, can leave those left behind devoid of care and protection.

Migration Policy Practice is a bi-monthly journal published jointly by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Eurasylum Ltd. It features only articles from, and is overseen by, senior officials in government, EU institutions and international organizations, as well as civil society worldwide, working in the field of migration policy.

Should you wish to contribute an article for a future issue of this journal, or to comment on any of the articles published in this issue, please contact Solon Ardittis (sardittis@eurasylum.org) and Frank Laczko (flaczko@iom.int).