Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18117
Authors: Gianni De Fraja
Abstract: The labour force in the university sector of many countries is extremely international. I propose a theoretical model to study cross border academic mobility, where academics bargain with institutions over pay and choose the countries where they live and work to maximise their lifetime utility. I then test the model on a subset of well over 900,000 research active academics over 33 years. The model predicts academics to respond to short term conditions, such as those caused by changes in their own record and exchange rate fluctuations, with the decision to move of more eminent academics being less influenced by short-term exchange rate fluctuations, but more by changes in their record. These conclusions are confirmed by the empirical analysis.
Keywords: academic migration; university; research; higher education
JEL Codes: F22; F31; J32; D15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| academic eminence (A14) | migration propensity (J61) |
| eminence (Y60) | response to exchange rates (F31) |
| quality of life (I31) | likelihood of emigration (F22) |
| exchange rates, eminence (F31) | migration decisions (F22) |
| exchange rates (F31) | migration decisions (F22) |