View by Day

Ready for a challenge?

Join us at the Datathon Kick-off Event where you will find out more about the Data-driven Changemakers Datathon.

• What is Datathon and why are we doing it
• What will be the topics and questions covered
• What data will be available for analysis
• Schedule and setup of the event
• Whom will you meet during Datathon (speakers, jury members, mentors, organization team)
• Q&A session 

We also have some exciting news about IBM Data Science Experience platform that we will share with you during the event.

Who are we looking for?

Bachelor and master students interested in working with data and / or topics related to urban development. We do not expect you to have much experience of working with data however you should have a knowledge of using Microsoft Excel.

The aim of the Datathon?

To give you hands-on experience solving a real urban development problem using data analysis skills. You will choose a topic that interests you (from one of the following areas: urban movement, diverse city, bottom-up impact), form a team with other students and spend three days solving the case. At the end of the challenge, you will present your findings to the judges. 

Prof. Francesco Lissoni

GREThA (Groupe de Recherche en Économie Théorique et Appliquée), University of Bordeaux, France

Authors: Stefano Breschi, Francesco Lissoni, and Ernest Miguelez

Abstract: We assess the role of ethnic ties in the diffusion of technical knowledge using a database of patents filed by US‐resident inventors of foreign origin, identified by name analysis. We consider ten leading source countries, both Asian and European, of highly skilled migration to the US and test whether foreign inventors’ patents are disproportionately cited by (i) co‐ethnic migrants (“diaspora” effect), and (ii) inventors residing in their country of origin (“brain gain” effect). We find evidence of the diaspora effect for the Asian but not the European countries, with the exception of Russia. A diaspora effect does not necessarily translate into a brain gain effect, most notably for India where no such effect is detected. Neither does a brain gain effect occur solely in conjunction with a diaspora effect. Overall, diaspora and brain gain effects carry less weight than other channels of knowledge transmission, most notably co‐invention networks and multinational companies.

Keywords: migration, brain gain, diaspora, diffusion, inventors, patents

JEL codes: F22, O15, O31

Full Text:  “Foreign‐origin inventors in the US: Testing for Diaspora and Brain Gain Effects”