A Research Agenda for Migration and Innovation

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Forward-looking and innovative, Elgar Research Agendas are an essential resource for PhD students, scholars and anybody who wants to be at the forefront of research.

This Research Agenda presents an incisive overview of economic research on the multiple links between international migration and innovation. It both examines the key conceptual issues, explores data and methodological challenges and draws on the most recent empirical evidence to provide novel insights into the migration-innovation nexus and its significance for policy and practice.

Expert scholars analyze the role of migrants in driving innovation, particularly through knowledge diffusion and diversity across workplaces, cities and regions. They engage with these central themes across varied historical and socio-economic contexts, evaluating the contributions of key actors such as migrant inventors and scientists, international students, and ethnic entrepreneurs within both their host and home countries. In so doing, this Research Agenda ultimately advocates for greater integration of migration policies into broader innovation strategies and for a more careful evaluation of global talent flows and their economic effects.

Interdisciplinary in scope, this timely Research Agenda will benefit students and academics in migration studies, economic geography, economics of innovation, human geography and innovation policy. It is also an invaluable resource for policy makers, practitioners and government officers working in areas related to migration or innovation.