Star Scientists, Innovation and Regional and National Immigration

Abstract

This paper is organized in four sections. The first section discusses research findings in the literature on university-industry technology transfer before focusing on our research on the role of star scientists in determining where and when firms enter the biotechnology industry, which firms are most successful, how quickly they go public, and the stock market returns for particular firms. The second section presents evidence that - at least so far as starting firms are concerned - these top scientists are star innovators across the gamut of high technology industries. The third section presents evidence on the emergence of a reverse brain drain from the United States to other countries, which has reduced the number of these top scientists operating in and starting firms in the United States. The final section offers conclusions and concerns for policy-makers.

Keywords: scientist, innovation, technology, immigration, high technology