International labor mobility and knowledge flow externalities

被引:155
作者
Oettl, Alexander [1 ,2 ]
Agrawal, Ajay [1 ,3 ]
机构
[1] Univ Toronto, Rotman Sch Management, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6, Canada
[2] Max Planck Inst Econ, Jena, Germany
[3] Natl Bur Econ Res, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
关键词
labor mobility; knowledge flows; immigration; diaspora; inventors;
D O I
10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400358
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
02 ;
摘要
Although knowledge flows create value, the market often does not price them accordingly. We examine "unintended'' knowledge flows that result from the cross-border movement of inventors (i.e., flows that result from the move, but do not go to the hiring firm). We find that the inventor's new country gains from her arrival above and beyond the knowledge flow benefits enjoyed by the firm that recruited her (National Learning by Immigration). Furthermore, the firm that lost the inventor also gains by receiving increased knowledge flows from that individual's new country and firm (Firm Learning from the Diaspora). Surprisingly, the latter effect is only twice as strong when the mover moves within the same multinational firm, suggesting that knowledge flows between inventors do not necessarily follow organizational boundaries, thus creating opportunities for public policy and firm strategy.
引用
收藏
页码:1242 / 1260
页数:19
相关论文
共 36 条
[1]   RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT SPILLOVERS AND RECIPIENT FIRM SIZE [J].
ACS, ZJ ;
AUDRETSCH, DB ;
FELDMAN, MP .
REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, 1994, 76 (02) :336-340
[2]   Engaging the inventor: Exploring licensing strategies for university inventions and the role of latent knowledge [J].
Agrawal, A .
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, 2006, 27 (01) :63-79
[3]   The anchor tenant hypothesis: exploring the role of large, local, R&D-intensive firms in regional innovation systems [J].
Agrawal, A ;
Cockburn, I .
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION, 2003, 21 (09) :1227-1253
[4]  
AGRAWAL A, 2006, COLOCATION COE UNPUB
[5]   Gone but not forgotten: knowledge flows, labor mobility, and enduring social relationships [J].
Agrawal, Ajay ;
Cockburn, Iain ;
McHale, John .
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, 2006, 6 (05) :571-591
[6]   Localization of knowledge and the mobility of engineers in regional networks [J].
Almeida, P ;
Kogut, B .
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 1999, 45 (07) :905-917
[7]  
[Anonymous], 2002, ECONOMETRICS ANAL CR
[8]  
Audretsch DB, 1996, AM ECON REV, V86, P630
[9]   Are knowledge spillovers international or intranational in scope? Microeconometric evidence from the US and Japan [J].
Branstetter, LG .
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, 2001, 53 (01) :53-79
[10]  
Burt RS., 1992, STRUCTURAL HOLES SOC