By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Thanks to economic opportunities back home and a deeply flawed US immigration system, skilled immigrants from India and China are now leaving the US in droves, according to a new study.
Other factors include access to local markets and a desire to be closer to family and friends, according to the survey report “The Grass is Indeed Greener for Entrepreneurs in India and China”, released Thursday by Kauffman Foundation.
Led by Indian American Vivek Wadhwa, director of research at Duke University, the research team surveyed 153 skilled immigrants who had returned to India to start companies and 111 who went back to China.
More than 60 percent of Indian and 90 percent of Chinese returnees said the availability of economic opportunities in their countries was a major factor in their return, the survey noted.
While 78 percent of Chinese were lured by the attraction of local markets, so were 53 percent of Indians. And 76 percent of Indians and 51 percent of Chinese said it was family ties that brought them back home.
Surprisingly, 72 percent of Indian and 81 percent of Chinese returnees said that the opportunities to start their own businesses were better or much better in their home countries.
Speed of professional growth was also better back home for the majority of Indians (54 percent) and Chinese (68 percent).
And the quality of life was better or at least equal to what they’d enjoyed in the US for 56 percent of Indians and 59 percent of Chinese.
Among Indians, the strongest common advantage to entrepreneurs who had moved home was lower operating costs; among Chinese, it was access to local markets.
In India, 77 percent ranked operating costs and 72 percent ranked employee wages as very important advantages; in China, 64 percent and 61 percent did.
In China, 76 percent ranked access to local markets as very important. In India, 64 percent did.
Optimism about the country and economy also made a big difference. Indians and Chinese both (55 percent and 53 percent, respectively) saw the mood in their countries as a very important advantage.
The only advantage respondents typically indicated that the US offered was in the salaries received – 64 percent of Indian and 43 percent of Chinese respondents said the salaries had been better in the US than they were at home.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])