In 1980, immigrant entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa came to the United States and stayed, starting two companies that created more than a thousand American jobs. Now an academic, Wadhwa sees first hand that today's immigrants are not following his lead. Every year he asks foreign students in his classes at Duke University how many intend to stay permanently in the United States. "It used to be that everyone raised their hand," Wadhwa says. "Now they look at you funny. They say, 'What does that mean?'"
For a majority of highly skilled immigrants who want to start companies, the promised land is no longer the United States, writes Wadhwa and four co-authors in a recent report from the Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo.-based non-profit that supports research on entrepreneurship. In "The Grass Is Indeed Greener in India and China for Returnee Entrepreneurs," the researchers surveyed 153 professionals who returned from the U.S. to India or China to start a business. They found that 72% of Indians and 81% of Chinese said the opportunities to start a company in their home countries "were better or much better" than in the United States.
To read the full, original article click on this link: 'Brain Drain' or 'Brain Exchange': What Is the Cost When Immigrant Entrepreneurs Go Home? - Knowledge@Wharton
