2008

The International Mobility of Entrepreneurs and Regional Upgrading in India and China

AnnaLee Saxenian, "The International Mobility of Entrepreneurs and Regional Upgrading in India and China." In The International Mobility of Talent: Types, Causes, and Development Impact, Andrés Solimano, ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2008)

Abstract

By 2000, over one-third of Silicon Valley's high-skilled workers were foreign-born, and overwhelmingly from Asia. These US-educated engineers are transforming developmental opportunities for formerly peripheral regions as they build professional and business connections to their home countries. In a process more akin to 'brain circulation' than 'brain drain', these engineers and entrepreneurs, aided by the lowered transaction costs associated with digitization, are transferring technical and institutional know-how between distant regional economies faster and more flexibly than most large corporations. This chapter examines how Chinese and Indian-born engineers are contributing to highly localized processes of entrepreneurial experimentation in their home countries, while maintaining close ties to the technology and markets in Silicon Valley.

Author(s)

Last updated: September 20, 2016