2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
International Labor Mobility of Scientists and Engineers
| Project/Area Number |
16530165
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Applied economics
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
MURAKAMI Yukiko Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Professor, 政治経済学術院, 教授 (80222339)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | International Labor / Science and Technology / Mobility |
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| Research Abstract |
With the development of knowledge-driven economies in advanced countries, scientists and engineers (S＆E) are of growing importance. Therefore, these countries have implemented policies to aggressively attract capable foreign S＆E. The key incentives for international migration of S＆E are high levels of science and technology, opportunities for cutting-edge knowledge acquisition, and prospects for attaining better levels of performance in environments with sizeable budgets, superior equipment and facilities and high quality human resources. Japan and the USA, which satisfy these conditions, have attracted foreign S＆E. The USA attracts S＆E from all over the world ;, Japan, in contrast, is a local hub in Asia. Although there are not large gaps in budgets, equipment and facilities between the USA and Japan, structural problems in Japanese workplaces have made Japan less attractive as a destination for migrants. The structural problems include : the seniority-based human resource management,
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the hierarchical structure of decision-making, an organizational culture that is unsuitable for free discussion and too many tasks assigned to individual S＆E. The fact that the Japanese language is much less commonly used than English in international communication is an additional obstacle. Major reasons for employing foreign S＆E are : i) to secure capable S＆E by selecting talent from a large, international pool, ii)to utilize foreigners' special knowledge of overseas markets, laws and business customs and foreign language skills, and iii)to reduce the deficit of S＆E. While Japanese organizations stress the first reason, they have not secured desirable personnel because of the problems mentioned above. The second reason is valuable for organizations outsourcing R＆D and design overseas and conducting collaborative R＆D with foreign organizations. Employment of S＆E for the third reason carries the risk of causing unemployment of domestic S＆E and depressing wage increases, which will discourage young people from choosing science and engineering as fields of study. Less
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Research Products
(6 results)
