Aiding innovation and entrepreneurship through migration policy: a view from Australia

Khanh Hoang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In recent years, there has been significant interest in the role of migration policy in aiding innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth. The weight of academic literature points to a positive relationship between migration and innovation. Several countries, including Australia, Canada, the US and Singapore have sought to leverage this relationship by establishing various visas aimed at attracting migrant entrepreneurs and monetary investment from high net worth individuals to support their innovation systems. This paper analyses the effectiveness of Australias migration policies in strengthening its innovation system and asks what, if anything, could be done differently. Two key areas of the innovation system that could be addressed through migration policy are identified: increasing the pool of venture capital in Australia and attracting more migrants with entrepreneurial talent. Established in 2012, Australias Business Innovation and Investment Programme (BIIP) contains a range of visas aimed at attracting entrepreneurs and investment from high net worth individuals but has largely failed to address the needs of the innovation system. Drawing upon experiences of other jurisdictions and evidence from internal stakeholders, this paper suggests a range of reforms to the BIIP that would better align migration and innovation policy in Australia. Whilst approaches to the innovation and migration nexus will differ from economy to economy, Australias experiences may provide valuable lessons for other countries seeking to establish similar visa programs.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)59-81
    JournalInternational journal of social sciences
    Volume4
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

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