Essays on unravelling the global flux of disease, people and knowledge

Abstract

Since globalisation became a predominant concept in the 1990s, international borders have blurred and the movement of people, goods, services, and capital has never been easier. Among these movements, the movement of people has significant political, economic, and ㄴsocial implications for both the sending and receiving countries. In this study, we addressed three topics arising from these population movements. First, we discuss the transmission of the infectious disease, that is, COVID-19 surfaced in 2019. Second, we investigated native attitudes towards immigrants and immigration policies. Third, we delve into the movement of talent in academia, primarily through the lens of PhD hiring and placement networks of globally recognised academic institutions. In the first study, we examined the impact of various socioeconomic and political factors on the transmission of COVID-19, using a gravity model. The second paper assessed Koreans’ attitudes towards immigrants and immigration, positing that natives may prefer certain migrant groups to others. We empirically examined Koreans’ attitudes towards three different migrant groups in Korea: those who came for marriage, labour, and ethnic Korean returnees from China (Joseonjok). The third paper investigates the structural characteristics embedded in the PhD hiring and placement network and its impact on academic institutional performance.