Reputation and talent mobility in the Asia Pacific

Abstract

This paper argues that different forms of reputation are important for the attraction and retention of talent. Drawing upon the skilled migration literature as well as examples from national governments, supranational organisations and the mass media, we provide a typology that highlights the intersections between reputation and talent mobility. We provide three important contributions. First, we illustrate that reputation plays a central role in the global competition for talent. Second, we highlight that the reputations of countries affect the attraction and retention of top workers. Third, we show that global talent is not only influenced by country reputation but also produces reputations which manifest at the individual level through the inflow and outflow of talent. These contributions shed new theoretical and practical insights on the importance and impact of reputation for talent mobility.