Bridging the Gap: Evidence from the Return Migration of African Scientists

Caroline Viola Fry ()
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Caroline Viola Fry: Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Organization Science, 2023, vol. 34, issue 1, 404-432

Abstract: Although prior research has highlighted the benefits that accrue to brokers in innovation networks, much less attention is devoted to understanding who benefits from associating with a broker. This study focuses on the impact of associating with a specific kind of broker—a core/periphery bridge—that is, one that spans central and peripheral actors. I argue that actors associated with a core/periphery bridge benefit more when they have no central connection, or are outsiders in the network, due to their greater need for sponsorship from the broker. I explore this idea in the context of the return migration of American-trained scientists to African institutions, who span the core and the periphery of the global scientific network. I evaluate the impact of their return on the publication outcomes of nonmigrant scientists based in African institutions and find that following the arrival of a returnee in their institution, the nonmigrants who are not already connected to scientists in top global institutions have a greater publication output through improved access to central knowledge and connections. The findings contribute to a better understanding of how brokers can influence innovation systems more broadly.

Keywords: social network; inequality; economics of science; international migration; knowledge spillovers; global innovation; economics of innovation; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:404-432

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