Does cultural diversity boost innovation?

Venue: Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, 34 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3BD
17:30-19:00 (followed by a reception)
The increasing international mobility of labour has important effects on the workforce composition of organisations in all migrant-receiving countries. Referring to the empirical evidence from across Australasia, North America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe, this lecture will draw some broad conclusions. Firms that employ a more culturally diverse foreign workforce are on balance more innovative, but the impact of immigration – relative to other factors influencing innovation – is quantitatively modest. A major challenge is that the effect of innovation on cultural diversity is hard to detect, because the reverse is also true: more innovative firms tend to recruit more culturally diverse workers. How researchers address this ‘chicken and egg’ problem is explained in a non-technical way. Some lessons for public policy are suggested.
Chair: Dr Oliver Bakewell, Director, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford
Respondents: Professor Michael Keith, COMPAS, University of Oxford; Dr Mathias Czaika, IMI, University of Oxford; Professor Monder Ram, CRÈME, University of Birmingham