IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i22p6454-d287685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mobility, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation: An Empirical Study on Returned Chinese Academics at Two Research Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Qiongqiong Chen

    (Office of Strategic Planning and Development, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Yuan Li

    (Center for Language Education, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055, China)

Abstract

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the effects of academic mobility on higher education innovation through an empirical study on returned Chinese academics at two research universities in China. Based on data obtained through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 15 academic returnees, this paper aims to examine the everyday interactions between individual returnees and their environment, with a focus on exploring how different institutional contexts affect returnees’ capacity for integration and innovation. It finds that returned academics play an important role in promoting higher education innovation in China through mobilizing their transnational capital and resources. However, their capacity to innovate is largely subject to their working environment. Evidence from the study suggests that differing institutional contexts make a substantial difference to the reintegration experiences of returnees and to their contributions to institutional changes. This paper provides a window into the changing institutional environment in China and the academic lives of returnees there. It also provides important implications for talent policy decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiongqiong Chen & Yuan Li, 2019. "Mobility, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation: An Empirical Study on Returned Chinese Academics at Two Research Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6454-:d:287685
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6454/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6454/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maggi W.H. Leung, 2013. "Unraveling the Skilled Mobility for Sustainable Development Mantra: An Analysis of China-EU Academic Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Paulette Siekierski & Manolita Correia Lima & Felipe Mendes Borini & Rafael Morais Pereira, 2018. "International academic mobility and innovation: a literature review," Journal of Global Mobility, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(3/4), pages 285-298, September.
    3. Koen Jonkers & Robert Tijssen, 2008. "Chinese researchers returning home: Impacts of international mobility on research collaboration and scientific productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(2), pages 309-333, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haiying Xu & Wei-Ling Hsu & Teen-Hang Meen & Ju Hua Zhu, 2020. "Can Higher Education, Economic Growth and Innovation Ability Improve Each Other?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    2. Xiantong Zhao & Hongbiao Yin & Chenyang Fang & Xu Liu, 2021. "For the Sustainable Development of Universities: Exploring the External Factors Impacting Returned Early Career Academic’s Research Performance in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Haining Jiang & Wenzhong Zhang & Jian Duan, 2020. "Location Choice of Overseas High-Level Young Returned Talents in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Yuzhuo Cai & Jinyuan Ma & Qiongqiong Chen, 2020. "Higher Education in Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Jun Guan & Chunxiu Liu & Guoqiang Liang & Lizhi Xing, 2023. "Framework to Measure the Mobility of Technical Talents: Evidence from China’s Smart Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Yan Shao & Qasim Raza Syed & Raja Fawad Zafar, 2025. "The Dynamic Relationship Between Education and Green Growth in BRICS Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 1109-1128, March.
    7. Feng Zhang & Jiao Zhang & Wei Xing & Yan Xu, 2025. "Sustainable Regional Development Under Demographic Transition: Labor Market Integration and Export Quality Enhancement in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-29, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maxim Kotsemir & Ekaterina Dyachenko & Alena Nefedova, 2022. "Mobile young researchers and their non-mobile ‘twins’: who is winning the academic race?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7307-7332, December.
    2. Vadim N. Gureyev & Nikolay A. Mazov & Denis V. Kosyakov & Andrey E. Guskov, 2020. "Review and analysis of publications on scientific mobility: assessment of influence, motivation, and trends," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1599-1630, August.
    3. Xiantong Zhao & Hongbiao Yin & Chenyang Fang & Xu Liu, 2021. "For the Sustainable Development of Universities: Exploring the External Factors Impacting Returned Early Career Academic’s Research Performance in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Wu, Jiang & Ou, Guiyan & Liu, Xiaohui & Dong, Ke, 2022. "How does academic education background affect top researchers’ performance? Evidence from the field of artificial intelligence," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    5. Cui Zhang & Jing Guo, 2017. "China’s international research collaboration: evidence from a panel gravity model," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1129-1139, November.
    6. Jinyuan Ma & Fan Jiang & Liujian Gu & Xiang Zheng & Xiao Lin & Chuanyi Wang, 2020. "Patterns of the Network of Cross-Border University Research Collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Rosina Moreno & Jordi Suriñach & Esther Vayá & Maite Vilalta, 2024. "The new Spanish University Law: Economic and Fiscal Impact," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 251(4), pages 81-109, December.
    8. Naomi Fukuzawa, 2014. "An empirical analysis of the relationship between individual characteristics and research productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(3), pages 785-809, June.
    9. Gibson, John & McKenzie, David, 2014. "Scientific mobility and knowledge networks in high emigration countries: Evidence from the Pacific," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1486-1495.
    10. Li, Feng & Miao, Yajun & Yang, Chenchen, 2015. "How do alumni faculty behave in research collaboration? An analysis of Chang Jiang Scholars in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 438-450.
    11. Alicia Moreno-Delgado & Marlon Cárdenas-Bonett & Óscar Gregorio-Vicente & Julio Montero-Díaz, 2024. "Mapping scientific mobility in leading Eurozone economies: insights from ORCID data analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(11), pages 6889-6907, November.
    12. Elizabeth A. Corley & Barry Bozeman & Xuefan Zhang & Chin-Chang Tsai, 2019. "The expanded scientific and technical human capital model: the addition of a cultural dimension," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 681-699, June.
    13. JongWuk Ahn & Hyundo Choi & Dong-hyun Oh, 2019. "Leveraging bridging universities to access international knowledge: Korean universities’ R&D internationalization," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 519-537, August.
    14. Jingyi Zhao & Chunli Wei & Jiang Li, 2023. "Is the research performance of Chinese returnees better than that of their local counterparts?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(5), pages 3091-3105, May.
    15. Minsoo Choi & Heejin Lee & Hanah Zoo, 2021. "Scientific knowledge production and research collaboration between Australia and South Korea: patterns and dynamics based on co-authorship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 683-706, January.
    16. Liang, Wenyan & Gu, Jun & Nyland, Chris, 2022. "China's new research evaluation policy: Evidence from economics faculty of Elite Chinese universities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    17. Massimo Aria & Michelangelo Misuraca & Maria Spano, 2020. "Mapping the Evolution of Social Research and Data Science on 30 Years of Social Indicators Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 803-831, June.
    18. Scellato, Giuseppe & Franzoni, Chiara & Stephan, Paula, 2015. "Migrant scientists and international networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 108-120.
    19. Mladen Djuric & Jovan Filipovic & Stefan Komazec, 2020. "Reshaping the Future of Social Metrology: Utilizing Quality Indicators to Develop Complexity-Based Scientific Human and Social Capital Measurement Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 535-567, April.
    20. Thomas Zacharewicz & Luis Sanz Menendez & Koen Jonkers, 2017. "The Internationalisation of Research and Technology Organisations," JRC Research Reports JRC105499, Joint Research Centre.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6454-:d:287685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.