See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225654622 From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: Reverse Migration to Bangalore and Hyderabad, India's Globalizing High Tech Cities Article in GeoJournal · June 2007 DOI: 10.1007/s10708-007-9078-8 CITATIONS READS 86 951 1 author: Elizabeth Chacko George Washington University 25 PUBLICATIONS 480 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Geomorphic and Social Impacts of Check Dams in the Eco-sensitive Shiwalik Foothills of India View project All content following this page was uploaded by Elizabeth Chacko on 14 April 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. GeoJournal (2007) 68:131–140 DOI 10.1007/s10708-007-9078-8 From brain drain to brain gain: reverse migration to Bangalore and Hyderabad, India’s globalizing high tech cities Elizabeth Chacko Published online: 26 May 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract This paper assesses the mutual impact of Keywords Reverse brain-drain Á India Á Bangalore Á returning Indian-origin skilled workers on the cities Hyderabad Á Transnational migration of Bangalore (Bengaluru) and Hyderabad, which have emerged as India’s leading ‘‘tech cities’’. The cities of Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru) During the 1970s and 1980s, there was concern that and Hyderabad gained recognition recently as leading India was losing its educated workforce to the West, centers of high tech industry and high level services. particularly to the United States through a phenom- Located in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra enon known as ‘‘brain drain’’. More recently, there is Pradesh (AP), they are India’s 5th and 6th largest evidence that reverse brain drain is occurring, as cities respectively (Census of India 2001). Regional U.S.-trained Indian professionals are returning to capitals that lagged behind more established their home country in increasing numbers to take industrial, financial and commercial hubs such as advantage of new growth and employment opportu- Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, Bangalore and nities. The effects of this skilled, transnationally Hyderabad catapulted to their present status as active labor force on various sectors of the economy, modern metropolises of national and international on the social and physical infrastructure of Bangalore significance in the 1990s. These cities are linked to the and Hyderabad and in forging and solidifying trans- global economy through firms that develop software national linkages between India and the United States and hardware, call centers that meet the needs of firms are explored in this paper. This study also investi- located in the United States and in Europe and gates the reasons why successful US professionals of superior educational and research institutions Asian-Indian origin are returning to their home (Heitzman 2004; Nair 2005; Ramachandraiah and country via a series of personal interviews. The paper Bawa 2000). offers Bangalore and Hyderabad as ‘‘worldwide The transfer of financial capital and knowledge, leading cities’’ with a niche status in the global and the political will of state and city governments to Information Technology (IT) sector. attract the assets necessary to transform metropolitan economies and infrastructure are considered critical to the rise of high tech cities. Equally important in the ascendance of Bangalore and Hyderabad was human E. Chacko (&) capital in the form of highly skilled workers who Department of Geography, The George Washington included locals as well as returning first-generation University, 1957 E street, NW, Suite 512, Washington, DC 20052, USA Indian immigrants to developed countries. Addition- e-mail: [email protected] ally, even those immigrants who chose not to 123 132 GeoJournal (2007) 68:131–140 physically relocate served as bridges, facilitating the professionals are returning to their home country and transfer of technology, capital and expertise to the their experiences of reverse migration. home country (Kapur 2002; Saxenian 2005). This study documents the migrants’ experiences as This paper offers Bangalore and Hyderabad as they adapt as transmigrants and reintegrate into a emerging niche world cities that are increasingly receiving society that was once their home. It argues linked to a global network through not just their that returning high skill migrants bring with them economic activities, but their transnational high skill knowledge, expertise, access to global networks and residents. Glick Schiller et al. (1995) define transna- capital, but also a international sensibility that tional migration as a process by which immigrants influences where they work, live and their expecta- forge and maintain concurrent multi-stranded rela- tions and vision of life in the Indian cities in which tions between home and host societies. This study they settle. The return migrants’ demands and investigates a special category of transnational expectations are mirrored in the highly paid jobs, migrants—successful Asian Indian professionals, gated communities with upscale facilities, improved who after spending years in the United States have infrastructure and unfortunately, also an escalation in returned to India. The emphasis in most studies of disparities among the populations of the cities. transnationalism is on immigrants from less devel- oped countries who have settled in the developed world. This study’s focus is the reverse; migrants World cities, globalization and transnationalism from advanced societies who have moved back to a developing country, albeit their own. World/global cities have been defined using various This paper tells the story of return migrants and criteria, most commonly, a disproportionate share of their relationships with and impacts on two emerging corporate headquarters and international financial niche world cities by weaving together information services. They are also hubs for legal, accounting, from city governments, Indian media reports and publishing, advanced telecommunications and pro- personal interviews. All persons interviewed had ducer services, and command and control operations been first-generation highly skilled immigrants from (Friedmann 1986; Sassen 1994). World cities have India to developed countries, most of whom had lived knowledge-based activities like research, education and worked in the United States but were currently and the creative arts. They attract highly-skilled part of a stream of reverse migration. The paper migrants (Beaverstock and Smith 1996; Castles and investigates the reasons why these high skill workers Miller 2003) who form transnational and highly are returning to India and their effects on the mobile human capital. Such capital may be in the infrastructure and cityscapes of Bangalore and form of knowledge workers (Bathelt et al. 2004; Hyderabad as well as the social and economic Hospers 2003) or a ‘‘creative class’’ that through its structures of the two cities. ability to innovate can spur economic growth (Florida The analysis that follows draws on in-depth 2003). Highly skilled workers are attracted to and interviews conducted during 2005–2006 with 15 thrive in cities that provide a cosmopolitan environ- return migrants currently living in the cities of ment characterized by diversity and openness (Yeoh Bangalore and Hyderabad. I initially identified per- and Chang 2001; Yusuf and Wu 2002). Quintessen- sons to interview through referrals from acquain- tial world cities are thus not just nodes in the global tances in the United States and in the two Indian cities, network of economic flows but also centers of culture and subsequently used the technique of ‘snowballing’ and media that set social trends (Friedman 1995; to contact other respondents. All persons interviewed Taylor 2004). were males who had been employed in the USA for The Globalization and World Cities Study Group periods ranging from 6 to 19 years and who ranged and Network (GaWC), classified world cities in 1999 in age from 32 to 54 years at the time of the based on their ‘‘advanced producer services’’ into interviews. I communicated with my respondents in Alpha (full service) cities, Beta (major) cities and face-to-face settings, over the phone and via e-mail. Gamma (minor) cities, while also listing urban The transcribed interviews were used to gain a fuller centers that showed some evidence of world city understanding of the reasons why some Asian Indian status. In this typology, all Alpha cities were in the 123 GeoJournal (2007) 68:131–140 133 developed world; South Asia did not have any Alpha, globalization runs it course and the transfer of goods, Beta or Gamma cities, although New Delhi and capital, ideas and people becomes cheaper and faster, Mumbai were listed as showing strong evidence of immigrants find it easier to construct and maintain world city formation. ties across international boundaries. Transnational In a 2004 recategorization, the GaWC group migrants are persons whose identities, connections distinguished between global and world cities; the and lives are tied to more than one nation-state. former being cities that were ‘‘well rounded’’ as High-skill workers migrate for a variety of reasons. opposed to the latter that had niche functions. Taylor Their relocation may be temporary (Baldwin-Edwards (2005) noted that it was possible to have different 2006; Beaverstock 2005) or part of a strategy for kinds of globalization and that the agencies