Which factors influence the international mobility of research scientists?

Abstract

This paper investigates the factors that influence the international mobility of research scientists using a new measure of mobility derived from changes in affiliations reported by publishing scientists in a major global index of scholarly publications over the period 1996-2011. Using a gravity-based empirical framework, our research shows that measures of geographic and socioeconomic and scientific distance correlate negatively with scientist mobility between two countries. Scientific collaboration appears to be a major factor associated with the mobility of scientists. The analysis shows that the mobility of scientists particularly relies on flows of tertiary-level students in the opposite direction, from destination to origin country. This provides strong evidence that brain circulation is a complex and multi-directional phenomenon. For a majority of country pairs (dyads) in our sample, the mobility of scientists is generally better described by commensurate knowledge flows in both directions, rather than one dominating the other. The analysis also shows that mobility can be positively influenced by convergence in economic conditions and resources dedicated to R&D, as well as reduced visa-related restrictions.

Untapped Research Capacities? Mobility and Collaboration at the Intersection of International Development Aid and Global Science Regimes

“…It is also known that highly skilled individuals exhibit particular mobility patterns (Appelt et al 2015).…”

Untapped Research Capacities? Mobility and Collaboration at the Intersection of International Development Aid and Global Science Regimes

“…Despite economic growth, expanding higher education sectors and demographic prospects, the great majority of African countries are excluded from international data-collecting initiatives to map academic mobility, which concentrate on researchers in the Global North (Ackers 2005;Auriol 2010;MORE 2010;Franzoni et al 2012;Appelt et al 2015). Existing studies primarily discuss mobility in relation to statistical estimates of student mobility and outflows, excluding the PhD level (UNESCO 2012).…”

“…The international mobility of researchers, defined as physical mobility from one country to another, is recognised as making a significant contribution to the diffusion and improvement of scientific knowledge, both on a national and a global basis (OECD 2010). It is also known that highly skilled individuals exhibit particular mobility patterns (Appelt et al 2015). 11 Still, mobility does not follow on naturally as a function of the position as PhD graduate, but is contingent on geopolitical pre-conditions for international research production, which can determine access to international academic positions, and positioning in the competition to access them.…”

OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017 (Summary in Latvian)

“…The open researcher and contributor ID (ORCID) promotes the use of unique identifiers linkable to an individual's research output. An OECD analysis of the international scientist mobility network and its main drivers is available (Appelt et al, 2015 Funding from international organisations -notably the European union -underpins over 40% of business R&D in Latvia. Funds provided by the European Commission (EC) can also be especially important for R&D performed by higher education institutions and government research organisations, the largest sums of which flow to Germany and the united kingdom.…”