Mobility of Engineers

A case study of foreign employees in Asian electronics industry

Abstract

This study performed an empirical analysis of R&D based on technologies and knowledge embodied in people hired by advanced companies as engineers in emerging countries. In recent years, emerging companies in Asia have been recruiting numerous engineers from Japanese companies for their R&D efforts. This study empirically analyzed the R&D performance of companies for which engineers from Japanese companies have become employed. Result show that those engineers from Japanese companies contributed to increased patent production, patent complexity, and patent quality of companies in emerging Asian countries. However, the contribution is limited. Among the engineers from Japanese companies, engineers who contribute to increased patent production and who contribute to patent complexity, and patent quality are different.