From the San Jose Mercury News
Entrepreneurs returning to China and India find better economic opportunity
By Mike Swift
There has long been anecdotal evidence that highly educated Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs are choosing to leave tech hubs like Silicon Valley to launch startups in their home countries. A new report by scholars tracking those entrepreneurs says the returnees have found that economic opportunity truly is better in India and China.
"I was surprised at how overwhelmingly positive people were about being back home. The numbers were just astonishing," said Vivek Wadhwa, a visiting scholar at the University of California Berkeley, who co-authored the study along with AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of the School of Information at Berkeley, and scholars from Duke and Harvard. "The numbers are like a slap in the face for these politicians who are downplaying the rise of a new India and China."
The survey found that 72 percent of Indian and 81 percent of Chinese returnees found the opportunities to start their own businesses were better in their home countries. Just 14 percent of Indians and 5 percent of Chinese who had returned felt the opportunities had been better in the United States. The scholars used the professional social network LinkedIn to track down highly educated natives of those countries who returned home after living in the U.S. for several years....
This story also appeared in the Contra Costa Times. Related stories appeared in Businessweek and Venture Beat.