The Value of Peripatetic Economists: A Sesqui-Difference Evaluation of Bob Gregory

Does a country benefit from temporarily importing human capital? Do foreign academic visitors generate additional scholarly research on local issues? I use a survey in which visitors to ANU's Economics Program described their research before and after their visit and designated an otherwise similar non-visitor as a control. Matching to controls may thus be along observable and unobservable characteristics. These visits have a highly significant impact on the visitor's subsequent research, redirecting it toward Australia. Valuing this extra research based on scholarly citations received and the effects of citations on salaries shows substantial monetary gains.