Ethnic Scientific Communities and International Technology Diffusion
- 1 August 2008
- journal article
- Published by MIT Press in The Review of Economics and Statistics
- Vol. 90 (3), 518-537
- https://doi.org/10.1162/rest.90.3.518
Abstract
This study explores the role of U.S. ethnic scientific and entrepreneurial communities for international technology transfer to their home countries. U.S. ethnic researchers are quantified through an ethnic-name database and individual patent records. International patent citations confirm knowledge diffuses through ethnic networks, and manufacturing output in foreign countries increases with an elasticity of 0.1-0.3 to stronger scientific integration with the U.S. frontier. Specifications exploiting exogenous changes in U.S. immigration quotas address reverse-causality concerns. Exercises further differentiate responses by development stages in home countries. Ethnic technology transfers are particularly strong in high-tech industries and among Chinese economies. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Keywords
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