How migration makes the world brainier: Hyperconnected migrants accelerate the spread of ideas

From The Economist Excerpts:

"A survey in 2015 found that the most common surnames for founders of new firms in Italy were Hu, Chen and Singh, with Rossi a distant fourth."

"Immigrants or their children founded 45% of America’s Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, Google and Levi Strauss. Two-fifths of America’s Nobel science prize-winners since 2000 have been immigrants. Globally, migrants are three times likelier to file patents than non-migrants."

"Skilled migrants make locals more productive. Commercial or scientific projects typically involve big teams with varied talents and expertise. The absence of just one specialist can delay or scupper the whole project. Drawing on a global talent pool makes it easier to fill such gaps, and pursue bigger ideas. Startups that win visas for foreign staff in America’s skilled-visa lottery are more likely to expand, according to a study by Stephen Dimmock of Nanyang Technical University."

"Immigrants bring new perspectives. They also bring knowledge of overseas markets, and connections. This speeds the flow of information between countries. Multinational firms that hire lots of skilled immigrants find it easier to do business with their home countries, says William Kerr of Harvard Business School."

"The most obvious benefits from migration are what economists call “static” gains—migrants from poorer to richer countries earn more the moment they arrive. “But the real gains are the dynamic ones,” says Caglar Ozden of the World Bank—the complex interplay of newcomers with natives and the outside world. “That is what created the us miracle [of the past two and a half centuries],” says Mr Ozden. It is also what has made Australia so rich."

"Migrants also stay in touch with their home countries. Some spend a decade or two abroad, and then go back to start a business with the knowhow they have acquired in a more advanced country. That is, roughly speaking, how the Indian information-technology industry started. Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest industrialist, is a Stanford drop-out. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce firm, found out about the internet on a trip to America. A study by the Kauffman Foundation, a think-tank, found that two-thirds of Indian entrepreneurs who return home after working in America maintain at least monthly contact with former colleagues, swapping industry gossip and sharing ideas.

What is more, the lure of earning big money overseas changes the incentives for people in poor countries. It prompts more of them to get educated and acquire marketable skills. Having acquired these skills, many who intended to emigrate never do, perhaps because they fall in love or their parents fall sick. Many who do emigrate, ultimately return. A study by Frédéric Docquier and Hillel Rapoport concluded that “high-skill emigration need not deplete a country’s human-capital stock”—and if well handled, can actually make the sending country richer. Big countries such as India, China and Brazil would benefit handsomely from sending out more migrants. However, once a country starts losing more than 20% of its university graduates, as some small African countries do, it starts to be a drag on growth"