Migration and Global Network Formation: Evidence from Female Scientists in Developing Countries

As agents who have the opportunity to develop connections in multiple geographic locations and networks, migrants are uniquely suited to play brokerage roles in science, innovation, and entrepreneurship. But can they succeed in connecting others in their home and host environments? We investigate this question in the context of women in science in the developing world. We hypothesize that the extent to which such scholars facilitate connections will depend upon the extent to which their home and host country institutional environments support them in this brokerage role. Specifically, we propose that the effectiveness of female migrants as brokers is mitigated by national level gender parity, which we expect influences their level of legitimacy and opportunity for brokerage. Our analysis finds that female migrants in science are more likely to share international connections with non-migrants at home if their home countries and host countries have high levels of gender parity. We interpret these findings as providing evidence that institutional support is critical for migrant brokerage and the globalization of knowledge production.