Innovation and Human Resources: Migration and Employment Protection

Barbara Jones

Nesta Working Paper 12/07
Issued: April 2012
JEL Classification: O38
Keywords: Employment protection, migration policies, skill, innovation

Abstract

This paper is part of the Compendium of Evidence on the Effectiveness of Innovation Policy Intervention. It offers a very preliminary consideration of the role of high skill international migration policies and employment protection (EPL) legislation on innovation. There is, increasing interest in understanding the impact of EPL to innovation processes and how such understanding might illuminate specific and general innovation policy instruments. In the case of migration although the migration-innovation linkage is not yet clearly understood, and consequently is not yet embedded in innovation policy instruments, we are seeing the emergence of competitive immigration regimes as tools to enhance national competitiveness in the global economy. At the heart of both areas are people – human resources - and social equity and welfare issues that may not be easily reconciled with policies aimed at ensuring the smooth operation of innovation processes at the firm level.

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