CfP: 5th Workshop in the series on “Migration, Globalization and the Knowledge Economy”

Following the successful previous editions of Paris (2018)Utrecht (2019)Milan (virtual-2020), and Bordeaux (2021)the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Social Sciences area, is pleased to announce the 5th Workshop in the series on “Migration, Globalization and the Knowledge Economy”, to be held in L’Aquila (Italy), on May 17-18, 2022.

NB: The workshop is planned to take place in person, in compliance with health regulations and policies. Based on the evolving circumstances, we will communicate any variation of the format to the participants in due course.

Migration plays a key role in today’s knowledge economies. In 2019, the worldwide stock of migrants has overcome 270 million, or 3.5% of worldwide population, with tertiary-educated men and women representing a substantial and increasing share of it. Many such migrants held STEM qualifications (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) or moved abroad to the get them. Others are entrepreneurs or multinational firms’ executives. The migrants’ stock in countries defined high-income by the World Bank is 14%, spanning from 11% in Europe to 16% in North America, but it reaches 21.6% in Oceania. Far from moving exclusively along a south–north or east–west axis, these migrants also move between advanced economies, where they contribute to knowledge creation and diffusion worldwide. The importance of return and circular migration is also growing, and may play a role in keeping the migrants’ origin countries (or specific innovation clusters therein) involved in global processes of knowledge diffusion.

Several economic disciplines contribute to our understanding of the phenomenon, including economic geography, innovation economics and the economics of science, labor economics, or development economics, among many others. We aim to bring together scholars from all of them, whether engaged in theoretical, empirical or methodological research. A non-exhaustive list of topics of interest includes:

  • The role of STEM migration in fostering innovation in receiving countries – present and historical perspectives
  • The relationship between diversity and innovation at the team, firm, local and country level
  • The role of skilled diasporas in knowledge diffusion
  • The mobility decisions of skilled migrants (constraints and incentives to outgoing, return and circular migration; positive vs negative self-selection; role of diaspora/network ties).
  • Temporary migration and knowledge sharing
  • Migration and innovation-based start-ups formation
  • Skilled migrants and the internationalization of capital flows
  • The role of multinational firms in shaping scientists’ and engineers’ migration flows
  • The role of skilled migrants in shaping academic entrepreneurship and university-industry collaboration.
  • The effect of changes in migration policies on skilled migrations and international collaborations
  • Differences in training and career pathways of migrants and native-born skilled workers
  • Historical studies of skilled migration and/or long term effects on the innovation in destination countries.

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