Dr. David Zweig (Professor Emeritus, Division of Social Sciences, HKUST), Dr. Denis Simon (Duke University)

Drawing on surveys, interviews and document searches, and employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, Dr. Zweig shows that a key to understanding the process of reverse migration of talent back to China is to focus on what is called "a theory of shortage."

As several returned scientists remarked almost 20 years ago, the key to their successful return was their strategic ability to find a skill or a technology which was in short supply in China, giving them a comparative advantage vis-a-vis locals who had not gone abroad in China's marketplace or in China's scientific or academic institutions.

Even younger people who went abroad for shorter periods of time have found that skills they developed abroad are an important part of their "transnational human capital," greatly affecting their satisfaction with their lives and work. Dr. Zweig suggests this phenomenon demonstrates the reasons for returnees' success as well as for China's technological progress.