Asia Pacic Business Review Vol. 14, No.

4, 469472, October 2008

Debate

Human Capital or Talent Flows: Implications for Future Directions in Research on Asia Pacic
ROSALIE L. TUNG
Simon Fraser University, Canada

Since time immemorial, the rise of nations/empires and astounding innovations and amazing discoveries in different elds of enquiry and endeavour can be attributed to great minds. In the past, these gifted people or human capital were fairly immobile, that is, they tended to stay in their country of birth most of their life, or if they were to leave the shores of their country of origin (COO), they would most likely settle for good in their adoptive country (COR). With the growing dismantling of immigration and emigration barriers to the movement of people for most countries in the world, along with the globalization of the world economy, increasingly we see people leave their home country to undertake advanced studies abroad and/or acquire foreign work experience, and then subsequently return to their COO to take advantage of economic opportunities and development there. Thus, the concepts of brain drain and brain gain whereby one nations gain becomes another countrys loss appear to become less relevant as they are replaced by that of brain circulation or triangular human talent ow. The phenomenon of brain circulation is particularly salient in the case of Greater China and India, two Asian entities that have experienced the fastest rates of economic growth in the recent past. Saxenian (2000) found that high tech immigrants, that is, immigrants from Asia accounted for a disproportionate share of the engineers and information technology (IT) entrepreneurial start-ups in Silicon Valley. In her latest book entitled, The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy (2006), she likened these high tech immigrants to Jasons Argonauts in Greek mythology who plied between their COO and their respective COR in search of the golden eece. For example, Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan, with its concentration of high-tech companies in the areas of semiconductor, computer, telecommunication and optoelectronics, was established by the Taiwanese government with the specic objective of attracting high-tech immigrants of Taiwanese/Chinese origin

Correspondence Address: Rosalie L. Tung, Faculty of Business, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 1S6. Email: tung@sfu.ca

1360-2381 Print/1743-792X Online/08/040469-4 q 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13602380802037714

470

R. L. Tung

to return to their COO to nurture the development of these industries in the island economy. Similarly, Devoretz et al. (2002) have found that more highly educated immigrants from Hong Kong were more likely to return to their COO after acquiring their Canadian citizenship because of better career opportunities and a more favourable tax structure there. This led Devoretz et al. (2002) to characterize Canada as a human capital entrepot. In the case of China, where an estimated one million Chinese have left to study abroad since its open door policy in the late 1970s, that country has experienced the worst brain drain in the world according to a June 2007 report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences an estimated 70 per cent of those who have gone overseas failed to return (Li, 2007). For this reason, in 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao issued an impassioned plea to overseas Chinese to return. The Chinese diaspora is estimated at 55 million worldwide (Kao, 1993). Tung (2007) found that most Chinese students in Canada who major in computer science, engineering and business administration disciplines in high demand in China are indeed willing to return to China. This nding is consistent with that of other studies that showed that the overwhelming majority of Chinese students were receptive to the idea of returning to their COO after they had worked for several years abroad (World HR Lab, 2004). However, because an estimated 93 per cent of overseas Chinese students have acquired foreign citizenship, this means that many Chinese, including those that have returned to work in China, still entertain the option of reentering their adoptive countries at a later time. In fact, some of them are already shuttling back and forth between their adoptive countries and COO where they maintain dual businesses and residences. As such, this transnational community of high-tech immigrants has been dubbed as astronauts (Tung, 2008). Based on anecdotal accounts in the popular media, this phenomenon of brain circulation appears to be prevalent in India too. India is another populous Asian nation with a large overseas diaspora, many of whom have excelled in the high-tech sector (Kachru, 2007). Studies that seek to understand the similarities and differences in the attitudes of Indian students towards returning to India, and the challenges and opportunities encountered by Indians who have returned to their COO along the lines of ex-host country nationals (EHCNs) studies that I have conducted on Greater China and Central and East Europe (Tung, 2006; Tung & Lazarova, 2006) certainly merit attention. Aside from our need to understand the trends and patterns in human talent ows (including the motivations and reasons behind these movements), and the experiences of those who are members of these transnational communities (including the factors that could contribute to their success/failure in their pursuit of transnational business), the emerging phenomenon of brain circulation can profoundly affect the nature and way that we conduct cross-cultural studies or research with an international dimension. These include, but are not restricted, to the following. ` Firstly, the boundaries between cross-national vis-a-vis intra-national diversity studies have become increasingly blurred. Many existing cross-cultural studies have assumed cultural homogeneity within a given country and used nation-state as a surrogate for cultural groups (Hofstede, 2001; Ralston, 2008). Tung (1993, 2008) highlighted the need to recognize that intra-national differences can be as signicant as cross-national diversity. The growing trend of human talent ows will

Debate

471

undoubtedly contribute and compound to these intra-national differences. As such, it is imperative that we fundamentally re-examine the denition and parameters of what constitutes cross-cultural studies. Secondly, most cross-cultural studies have assumed that culture is relatively stable over time. The growing incidence of EHCNs or astronauts who span two or more economies will, rst, profoundly challenge this assumption, and, second, undoubtedly hasten the rate and magnitude of cultural change. Thirdly, most current studies of expatriate assignments have focused on the experiences and interface of traditional expatriates (namely, those who are typically nationals of the country of the headquarters of the multinational corporation) with host country nationals. With the growing use of EHCNs for international assignments including EHCNs who undertake self-initiated assignments, the fundamental question is raised as to who are expatriates and who are host country nationals (Tung, 2008). This does not imply that EHCNs do not experience difculties and challenges in operating in their COO. However, the issues of acculturation, and topics of investigation in traditional international human resource management (such as stafng and selection, training, development, performance appraisal and compensation) take on a completely different meaning with the burgeoning phenomenon of human capital circulation. Fourthly, EHCNs, by denition, live a bicultural or multicultural existence and are subjected to the tensions and conicts that may arise from the competing sociocultural norms and practices of two or more social groups. Benet-Martnez and Haritatos (2005: 1015), for example, have developed a Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) Index to measure the extent to which a bicultural individual perceives his/her two cultural identities as compatible versus oppositional. Studies of EHCNs can shed further light on our understanding of bicultural or multicultural identities. Lastly, there is growing evidence that immigrants can be an important source of social capital in both their COO and COR, and thus they can be fruitfully deployed in facilitating trade between their home and adoptive countries. Tung and Chung (2007), for example, have found that immigrant effect (that is, rms that were established by immigrants or who hired immigrants in key decision-making positions) affected the choice of foreign market entry strategies in the COO of these immigrants. Furthermore, the immigrant effect was found to be applicable to both developed and developing countries. A related line of studies, such as that by Tung and Chand (2007) sought to examine the role of the Indian diaspora in facilitating trade between India (COO of Indians who have emigrated to the USA and Canada) and the COR (that is, the USA and Canada). Similar studies on the Chinese diaspora would be worthwhile since overseas Chinese have made substantial investments in China. As noted above, the aforementioned ve topics are by no means exhaustive. Rather they are intended to highlight the fact that the emerging phenomenon of brain circulation has challenged us to fundamentally rethink the parameters and the way in which we have conducted cross-cultural research in the past, particularly research that pertains to the Asian countries. Furthermore, human talent ows have opened the path to new and exciting topics that reect more accurately the realities of the world we live in.

472

R. L. Tung

References
Benet-Martnez, V. & Haritatos, J. (2005) Bicultural identity integration (BII): components and socio-personality antecedents, Journal of Personality, 73(4), pp. 10151049. Devoretz, D. J., Ma, Z. & Zhang, K. (2002) Triangular human capital ows: some empirical evidence from Hong Kong and Canada, Working Paper Series 02-17. Vancouver: Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis. Hofstede, G. (2001) Cultures Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage). Kachru, S. H. (2007) Indian techies dominate start-up scene in US. Available at http://inhome.rediff.com/money/ 2007/jan/04startup.htm (accessed 10 December 2007). Kao, J. (1993) The worldwide web of Chinese business, Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 2436. Li, F. (2007) China hit by brain drain, report says. China Daily, 1 June. Available at http://www.chinadaily.com. cn/china/2007-06/01/content_884824.htm (accessed 10 December 2007). Ralston, D. A. (2008) The crossvergence perspective: reections and projections, Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), pp. 2740. Saxenian, A. L. (2000) Brain drain or brain circulation? The Silicon Valley-Asia connection, Modern Asia Series Fall 2000, Harvard University Asia Center, 29 September. Available at http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/ ,anno/speeches/braindrain.html (accessed 23 October 2006). Saxenian, A. L. (2006) The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). Tung, R. L. (1993) Managing cross-national and intra-national diversity, Human Resource Management Journal, 32(4), pp. 461477. Tung, R. L. (2006) The use of ex-host country nationals in international assignments: A source of competitive advantage or disadvantage? Keynote speaker at the 26th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Athens, Greece, 1621 July. Tung, R. L. (2007) The human resource challenge to outward foreign direct investment aspirations from emerging economies: the case of China, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(5), pp. 868889. ` Tung, R. L. (2008) The cross-cultural research imperative: the need to balance cross-national vis-a-vis intranational diversity, Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), pp. 4146. Tung, R. L. & Chand, M. (2007) The role of the Indian Diaspora in facilitating bilateral trade between U.S./Canada and India. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Academy of Management, Philadelphia, 5 8 August. Tung, R. L. & Chung, H. F. L. (2007) Immigrant effect and foreign market entry strategies: an exploratory study. Paper presented at AIB Fellows Plenary Session of the Annual Meetings of the Academy of International Business, Indianapolis, 2628 June. Tung, R. L. & Lazarova, M. B. (2006) Brain drain versus brain gain: an exploratory study of ex-host country nationals in Central and East Europe, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(5), pp. 18531872. World HR Lab (2004) Survey of Chinese haigui. Available at http://www.people.com.cn/GB/jiaoyu/22224/ 2366926.html (accessed 12 June 2005).