ERIC Number: EJ1426498
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jun
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0952-8733
EISSN: EISSN-1740-3863
Game of Brains: Examining Researcher Brain Gain and Brain Drain and Research University Policy
Yuan Chih Fu; Juan José Moradel Vásquez; Bea Treena Macasaet; Angela Yung Chi Hou; Justin J. W. Powell
Higher Education Policy, v37 n2 p237-258 2024
To explore scientific mobility patterns, we leverage a rich bibliometric dataset on Taiwanese academia. We investigate the movement and productivity of 21,051 highly active researchers who published while affiliated with Taiwanese higher education institutions based on 30 years' worth of publication and affiliation records from 1991 to 2020. The analysis shows evidence of brain drain in Taiwan since the 2010s, with the U.S. the top destination for researchers moving from Taiwan (as well as the largest source of inbound researchers). China comes a close second to the U.S. as the top destination for outbound scholars. Studying how Taiwan's universities recruited talent after the country adopted the 2005 excellence initiative, we discover that the numbers of scholars recruited by World Class Universities (WCUs) and non-WCUs surprisingly converge with WCUs exhibiting a dramatic decrease in new recruits. Our evidence uncovers that inbound scholars, after their move, are more productive than non-mobile colleagues; however, this effect declines over time. We discuss implications for the study of excellence initiatives, their (un)intended consequences, and mechanisms of talent circulation that greatly impact research production and research university development.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Brain Drain, Scientific Research, Researchers, Occupational Mobility, Productivity, Colleges, Asians, Writing for Publication, Publications, Recruitment, Scholarship, Universities, Institutional Characteristics, Reputation
Palgrave Macmillan. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail:customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: http://www.palgrave.com/us/social-science/education
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A