Trends in the Migration of Russian Scholars: The Regional Dimension

Abstract

The quality of human capital is of key significance for the technological and economic development as a factor of competition for highly qualified personnel. Previously, the migration of scholars was described as a “brain drain”, but due to globalization and the development of communication tools, its characteristics expanded. Nowadays, additional relevant terms “brain circulation”, “brain exchange”, and “brain sharing” have appeared. Bibliometric analysis in this paper relies on the Scopus database to estimate the migration of scholars affiliated to the Ural Federal University. We present our algorithm for generating scientometric data. The research findings show that, in general, the regional tendencies follow, with some time lag, the Russian average, as well as the global trends of transition from the “brain drain” to the cooperative work. We identified similarities between the list of host countries and countries for cooperation. The key difference is that the region trend is featured by more positive figures in terms of “brain drain” than Russia on average. Practical significance of our paper refers to the application of generation algorithm as an independent tool for collecting scientometric data. The results of the study can be used by the public authorities when implementing socio-economic policy. © 2021, Terra Economicus. All Rights Reserved.