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  • 2022
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Talent Flows and the Geography of Knowledge Production: Causal Evidence from Multinational Firms

By: Dany Bahar, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Sara Signorelli and James M. Sappenfield
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:78
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Abstract

Leveraging a unique dataset merging patent data with all work-related migration reforms that took place in 15 countries over 26 years, we show that reforms discouraging inventor mobility decrease the patenting of MNE subsidiaries within a country, while reforms encouraging it have a positive but much smaller effect. Additionally, reforms adopted in the U.S. affect innovation in other countries in the opposite direction, highlighting the existence of a global competition for talent. Finally, we find that policies easing migration have facilitated about half of the shift in global innovation toward emerging markets.

Keywords

Migration; Technology; Policy Evaluation; Patents; Information Technology; Immigration; Policy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Globalization

Citation

Bahar, Dany, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Sara Signorelli, and James M. Sappenfield. "Talent Flows and the Geography of Knowledge Production: Causal Evidence from Multinational Firms." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-047, January 2022. (Revised December 2022.)
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About The Author

Prithwiraj Choudhury

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

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