`titreb International Human Capital Formation, Brain Drain and National Welfare : Economic Stakes and Paradoxes in a Microeconomic Perspective`/titreb A two-country model is proposed to examine the interrelation between the acquisition of human capital abroad and the international migration of skilled workers. Students in a domestic country face the choice of either studying and working at home, or undertaking studies abroad, offering variable probabilities of foreign employment, depending on their abilities. Their educational decisions are also potentially influenced by differences in the quality of educational systems, costs of studies and labor market conditions. In order to favour a dominance of positive, rather than negative, welfare effects of foreign migration, the home government can seek to introduce alternative grant schemes to promote national interests.