Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy

Asian Society for Innovation and Policy (아시아기술혁신학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Mobility and productivity: brain circulation and sustainability of the Korean academic system

  • Ki-Seok Kwon (Department of Public Policy, Hanbat National University) ;
  • Jeongmin Park (Department of Business Administration, Hanbat National University) ;
  • Somin Kim (Strategy & Policy Planning Department, Daejeon Institute of Science & Technology for Enterprise & People)
  • Received : 2023.03.24
  • Accepted : 2023.04.25
  • Published : 2023.04.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the unique characteristics of the Korean academic system with regard to brain circulation, with a specific emphasis on the influence of overseas-trained academics on research activities within the Korean academic system. We have analyzed the statistical data on individual characteristics and performances of 48,499 Korean academics in science and engineering. We have examined the results at both the system and individual levels within the broader context of the macro characteristics of the Korean academic system. Our analysis reveals that the total number of domestically-trained academics exceeds the number of overseas-trained academics. However, in terms of research funding, overseas-trained academics tend to receive more funding than domestically-trained academics. Furthermore, after controlling other factors such as funding, personal attributes, and environmental factors, our analysis demonstrates that overseas training has a significant and favorable impact on the publication of internationally renowned journals. As such, the presence of overseas returnees has been essential for the effective functioning of the Korean academic system in the global research network and for conducting high-quality academic research. Therefore, the advantages of dependence on scientific core countries such as the US for overseas training have persisted. Nevertheless, upon scrutinizing the group of recently appointed 5,806 academics exclusively, we have discovered that junior academics who received their education domestically exhibit sufficient academic proficiency compared to their colleagues educated overseas. This observation highlights the potential for the Korean academic system to evolve into a self-sustaining system.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was financially supported by Hanbat National University Accounting Research Fund 2018 year. Ki-Seok Kwon is the sole recipient of this fund out of all of the authors. All authors appreciate anonymous reviewers for their comments that advanced this article.

References

  1. Agrawal, A., Kapur, D., Mchale, J., and Ottel, A. (2011). Brain drain or brain bank? The impact of skilled emigration on poor-country innovation, Journal of Urban Economics, 64, 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2010.06.003
  2. Albuquerque, E. M. (2001). Scientific Infrastructure and Catching-Up Process: Notes about a Relationship Illustrated by Science and Technology Statistics, Revista Brasileira de Economia, 5(4), 545-566. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-71402001000400005
  3. Altbach, P. G. (2002). Centers and peripheries in the academic profession. In P. G. Altbach (Ed.), The decline of the guru: The academic profession in developing and middle-income countries, 1-22, New York, NY: Palgrave.
  4. Baser O. and Pema E. (2004). Publications over the academic life cycle: evidence for academic economists, Econ Bull, 1, 1-8.
  5. Bernasconi, A. (2008). Is there a Latin American model of university?, Comparative Education Review, 52, 27-52. https://doi.org/10.1086/524305
  6. Cummings, W. K. (1994). From knowledge seeking to knowledge creation: the Japanese university's challenge. Higher Education, 27(4), 399-415. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384901
  7. David, P. A. (2000). The Digital Technology Boomerang: New Intellectual Property Rights Threaten Global Open Science, in the World Bank Conference Volume:ABCDE-2000.
  8. Dodge, Herbert W. (1971). A history of U.S. assistance to Korean education, 1953-1966, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, George Washington University.
  9. Enders, J. (2005). Border crossings: Research training, knowledge dissemination and the transformation of academic work, Higher Education, 49(1/2), 119-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-2917-3
  10. Finn, M. G. (2007). Using NSF data on scientists and engineers to estimate stay rate of foreign doctorate recipients, paper presented at the workshop for using human resource data from science resources statistics. National Science Foundation, V. A.
  11. Hargens, L. L. and Farr, G. M. (1973). An examination of recent hypotheses about institutional inbreeding, The American Journal of Sociology, 40(1), 1381-1402. https://doi.org/10.1086/225470
  12. Hess, David J. (1997). Science Studies: An advanced Introduction, New York University Press.
  13. Hobday, M. (1993). Innovation in East Asia: Diversity and development, Technovation, 15(2), 55-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-4972(95)96610-6
  14. Hobday, M. (1997). Innovation in East Asia: The Challenge to Japan, Edward Elgar.
  15. Horta, H., Sato M., and Yonezawa, A. (2011). Academic inbreeding: exploring its characteristics and rationale in Japanese universities using a qualitative perspective, Asia Pacific Education Review, 12(1), 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-010-9126-9
  16. Johnson, J. M. and Regets, M. C. (1998). International mobility of scientists and engineers to the United States. Brain drain of brain circulation? Arlington, VA: NSF98-316.
  17. JoongAng Daily (2017). Overseas education to become a Korean professor? Domestic degree holders' superior academic performance, 2017.10.24.
  18. Jung, J. (2014). Research productivity by career stage among Korean academics, Tertiary Education and Management, 20(2), 85-105, DOI:10.1080/13583883.2014.889206.
  19. Kim, L. (1997). Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea's Technological Learning, Harvard Business School Press.
  20. Kwon, K.-S. (2015). Evolution of Universities and Government Policy: the case of South Korea, Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy, 4(1), 103-128. https://doi.org/10.7545/AJIP.2015.4.1.103
  21. Kwon, K.-S., Kim, S.-H., Park, T.-S., Kim, E. K., and Jang, D. (2015). The impact of graduate students on research productivity in Korea, Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 1, 21.
  22. Lee, C.-W. and Jang, D. (2013). Analysis of research achievement based on researchers and field of research: centered on the field of medicine and pharmacology, GRI REVIEW, 15(3), 197-216. [In Korean] https://doi.org/10.23286/GRI.2013.15.3.010
  23. Lee, J. J. and Kim, D. (2010). Brain gain or brain circulation? U.S. doctoral recipients returning to South Korea, Higher Education, 59, 627-643. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9270-5
  24. Lee, S. (1992). University Professors in South Korea, Hakjisa: Seoul.
  25. Lee, S. J. and Jung, J. (2018). Work experiences and knowledge transfer among Korean academics: focusing on generational differences, Studies in Higher Education, 43(11), 2033-2058. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1301416
  26. Lee, S. H. (2004). Korean Higher Education: History and Future Challenges in Altbach and Umakoshi (eds), Asian Universities, Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  27. Leslie, L. R. and Oaxaca, R. L. (1993). Scientist and engineer supply and demand, In Smart, J. C. (eds), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, Agathon Press: Newyork.
  28. Li, M. and Zhang, Y. (2011). Two-way flows of higher education students in Mainland China in a global market: Trends, characteristics and problems In S. Marginson, S. Kaur, and S. Erlenawati (eds), Higher education in the Asia-Pacific, 309-327, Dordrecht: Springer.
  29. Mahroum, S. (2000). Scientific mobility: and agent of scientific expansion and institutional empo.erment, Science Communication, 21, 367-378. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547000021004003
  30. Mazzoleni, R. (2003). The role of universities and public research in the catching-up process, Globelics 2003.
  31. Mazzoleni, R. and Nelson, R. R. (2007). Public research institutions and economic catchup, Research Policy, 36, 1512-1528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2007.06.007
  32. McGinn, N. F., Snograss, D. R., Kim, Y. B., Kim, S.-B., and Kim, Q.-Y. (1980). Education and development in Korea, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  33. MOE, MSIT, and MCST (2019). Plan for supporting academic ecosystem in humanities and social sciences, Policy Brief, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
  34. Moon, M. (2004). Reappraisal of the Establishment of KIST: U.S. and Korea's Role, The Korean Journal of History of Science, 26 (1), 57-86.
  35. NRF (2020). Survey on Korean university researcher's activities in 2020, National Research Foundation. [In Korean]
  36. NSF (2019). Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2019. NSF 21-308. Alexandria, VA, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21308/.
  37. NSF (2021). Data archive of Survey of Earned Doctorate provided by National Science Foundation, accessed on 25th Feb, 2021, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvydoctorates/#tabs-2
  38. Oster S. M. and Hamermesh D. S. (1998). Aging and productivity among economists, Rev Econ Stat, 80, 154-156. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465398557258
  39. Ribeiro, D. (1969). A universidade necessaria, Rio de Janeiro, Paz at Terra.
  40. Shin, J. C., Jung, j., Postiglione, G. A., and Azman, N. (2014). Research Productivity of Returnees from Study Abroad in Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Minerva, 52, 467-487. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-014-9259-9
  41. Shin, J. C., and Kehm, B. M. (2013). The world-class university across higher education systems: Similarities differences, and challenges. In J. C. Shin, & B. M. Kehm (Eds.), Institutionalization of world-class university in global competition. Berlin: Springer.
  42. Stephan, P. (2010). The economics of science, Chapter 5, In Hall, B. H. and Rosenberg, N. (eds), Economics of Innovation, Elsevier: Amsterdam, 217-273.
  43. Stephan, P. (2012). How Economics Shapes Science, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
  44. Stephan, P. and Levin S. (1992). Striking the mother lode in science, London: Oxford University Press.
  45. Stephan, P. (1996). The Economics of Science, Journal of Economic Literature, 36, 1199-1235.
  46. Stephan, P. E. and Levin S. G. (1992). Striking the Mother Lode: The Importance of Age, Place, and Time, Oxford University Press: New York, Oxford.
  47. Um, S., C.-W. Lee, D. Jang, and Y. Choi (2012). Analysis of difference in research funding and research performance between person with domestic degree and person with foreign degree, Korean Policy Studies, 12(1), 21-43. [In Korean]
  48. Umakoshi, T. (1997). The establishment and development of Korean modern universities, Nagoya: Nagoya University Press.
  49. Von Tunzelmann, N., Ranga, M., Martin, B., and Geuna, A. (2003). The effect of size on research performance: a SPRU review, Report prepared for the Office of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, SPRU, University of Sussex, UK.
  50. Zucker, L. and Darby, M. (2007). Star scientist, innovation and regional and national migration, NBER Working paper series, National Bureau of Economic Research.
  51. Zukerman, H., Cole, J., and Bruer, J. (eds.) (1991). The Outer Circle: Woman in the Scientific Community, New York: W.W.Norton.