As part of the NZ-UK Link Foundation Visiting Professorship lecture programme 2015, IMI welcomes Professor Jacques Poot of the University of Waikato to deliver the lecture 'Does cultural diversity boost innovation?' The lecture will take place at the Oxford Martin School on 21 October at 17.30, followed by a reception.
Professor Poot will observe how the increasing international mobility of labour has important effects on the workforce composition in all migrant-receiving countries, focusing on empirical evidence from across Australasia, North America, the UK and continental Europe. The research shows that firms which employ a more culturally diverse foreign workforce are on balance more innovative, but the impact of immigration - relative to other factors influencing innovation - is quantitatively modest. A major challenge is that the effect of innovation on cultural diversity is hard to detect, because the reverse is also true: more innovative firms tends to recruit more culturally diverse workers. Professor Poot will explain how best researchers ought to approach this 'chicken and egg' problem, as well as make some recommendations for related public policy.
Registration for this event is free but essential.
This event will be livestreamed - watch from 17:30 via our website.