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The Elite Brain Drain

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  • Rosalind S Hunter

Abstract

They collect data on the movement and productivity of elite scientists. Their mobility is remarkable: nearly half of the world’s most-cited physicists work outside their country of birth. They show they migrate systematically towards nations with large R&D spending. Their study cannot adjudicate on whether migration improves scientists’ productivity, but we find that movers and stayers have identical h-index citations scores. Immigrants in the UK and US now win Nobel Prizes proportionately less often than earlier. US residents’ h-indexes are relatively high. They describe a framework where a key role is played by low mobility costs in the modern world.[IZA DP No. 4005]

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  • Rosalind S Hunter, 2009. "The Elite Brain Drain," Working Papers id:2048, eSocialSciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2048
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    Keywords

    mobility; science; brain drain; citations;
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