Skilled migrants also spur technological progress by carrying across borders the sort of information that is hard to write down, because they are learned and disseminated through hands-on experience, like the details of making semiconductors. According to Harvard University’s Atlas of Economic Complexity, the key to driving economic growth is not so much individual experts as the combination of expertise required to make complex products: for example, the mix of experience in batteries, liquid crystals, semiconductors, software, metallurgy, and lean manufacturing required to make a smartphone.
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