Publications
Publications
- 2022
- 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
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.)