In the past, most immigrant entrepreneurs used to remain in the U.S. Now they are opting to return home, a trend that will have an impact on technology development in the U.S. A new Q&A interview with Harvard Business School professor Bill Kerr examines the role that Chinese entrepreneurs will play in international technology transfer.
He makes the point that immigrant scientists make up most of the PhD scientific talent pool in the U.S., and suggests that US immigration policies reflect that fact.
"...One implication concerns immigration levels. It is interesting to note that while immigrants account for about 15 percent of the U.S. working population, they account for almost half of our Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers. Even within the Ph.D. ranks, foreign-born individuals have a disproportionate number of Nobel Prizes, elections to the National Academy of Sciences, patent citations, and so forth. They are a very strong contributor to U.S. technology development, so it is in the United States' interest to attract and retain this highly skilled group. It is one of the easiest policy levers we have to influence our nation's rate of innovation..."
-AMS
