ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the mobility of skilled workers enables the spread of tacit knowledge in intra- and inter-firm networks, because organisational and relational proximity is integral to the transmission of knowledge that is difficult to communicate. It discusses aspects of skilled migration in a globalising world economy. There has been a growing recognition of the role of skilled migration as a component and a "driver" of economic globalisation processes. The concept of "skilled migration" is fuzzy because the phenomenon possesses different meanings. The level of human capital is often central and skilled workers are usually defined as having completed tertiary education. A way forward to better understand the phenomenon from a globalising network perspective is to reconceptualise skilled migration as one element of the international mobility of knowledge. The chapter suggests against simplistic interpretations based on fuzzy concepts or wobbly data and reconceptualises skilled migration as one element of the international mobility of knowledge.
