Do migrants transfer tacit knowledge? : the case of highly skilled Bangladeshi immigrants in the United States

Transfer of knowledge is a complex process. While codified knowledge is easy to transfer, tacit knowledge is not. "Tacit knowledge is difficult to exchange over long distance because it is heavily imbued with meaning arising from the social and institutional context in which it is produced, and this context specific nature makes it spatially sticky" (Gertler 2003). This thesis argues that there is certain tacit knowledge that migrants often transmit over long distances after customizing the knowledge to apply in different institutional settings. This thesis takes the example of Bangladesh, a country having an unfavorable socio- economic and institutional setting for receiving new technology, and explains how, despite the unfavorable conditions, some expatriates do transfer their knowledge to Bangladesh. Based on in-depth interviews with those expatriates creating the most impact in the economy of Bangladesh, the thesis shows that highly skilled Bangladeshi immigrants in the United States transfer tacit knowledge through building partnerships with individuals and organizations in Bangladesh. The thesis also finds that these partnerships are mostly based on trust, often coming from basic commonalities: same language, common "codes" of communication, shared norms, and personal knowledge about each other.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Sultana, Moshahida

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alice H. Amsden.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33040

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33040