Exploring the Push and Pull Factors in Scientific Mobility

Understanding the increase in the local/global mobility of scientists is critical from academic/practical perspectives. This research study focuses on the “push/pull” factors that influence highly educated individuals to migrate to other countries. Using the Open Researcher and Contributor ID database, we examine the association between different aspects of culture and economic conditions as push/pull factors. By exploring over 6000 doctoral researcher migration records from 194 countries, we investigate how the interaction between a migrant's home country characteristics (push factors) and immigrant country characteristics (pull factors) affects their migration. The findings show that migration behavior is correlated with the culture and income of immigrant countries. Immigrants are more likely to move to countries that are culturally similar to their home country. The high-income/individualistic nature of “sending” and “receiving” nations interacts with one another and motivates individual talents to migrate further. Policy implications include mitigating brain drain and encouraging skilled migration for innovation/economic growth.