Do return requirements increase international knowledge diffusion? Evidence from the Fulbright program

We ask whether policies designed to encourage return migration of scientists increase knowledge diffusion to and from home countries, as measured by citations to articles in STEM journals. We track the post-PhD careers of 249 Fulbright Fellowship recipients who are required to leave the US after PhD receipt and 249 similar foreign-born “control” scientists not subject to return requirements. We find that articles by Fulbright Fellows from countries with a weak science base are cited more frequently in their home countries than articles by control scientists, and that this is due primarily to the fact that they are more likely to locate in their home country. In addition, all Fulbrights direct their own citations toward home-country articles at a higher rate than controls. Overall, the results suggest that return requirements mainly benefit countries that have weak scientific environments.