| Abstract |
The phenomenon of international migration has been widely studied but there has been little investigation of the contemporary phenomenon of professional mobility to theorize and thus understand the workings of global capitalism. In this brief presentation I integrate the reasons for and the ways by which mobility of professionals is institutionally restricted and facilitated by states and capitalist firms. I argue that the changing structures of capital accumulation, from manufacturing to services in the context of global economic integration, induces the international movement of people, while mobility is circumscribed by national institutions such as governments, business, and labor. I further argue that the impediments to international mobility posed by local institutions cannot be durable if the prospect for capitalist expansion is severely jeopardized. By using the IT industries of Japan and India I indicate that hitherto inhibiting institutions (stickiness) in Japan must adjust to the imperatives of business competitiveness and expansion despite the institutional propensity to not do so. This presentation is based on a larger research project originally funded by an Abe Fellowship of the Japan Foundation. |