Skilled International Migration and the Global City: A Study of Expatriates in Hong Kong

Large companies employ more skilled international migrants than small ones and, since global cities are very attractive locations for transnational companies, they are also host to large numbers of skilled expatriates. Lack of research on skilled migrants in the global city is unfortunate since it appears that they are both consequence and part-cause of global city formation. Results from research in Hong Kong help to illustrate some of the salient characteristics of an expatriate community in a global city and to explore why business culture determines that companies employ expatriates in very different ways.