Cultural Factors and Study Destinations of International Students

We examine the role of cultural factors in attracting international students, using data of 102 countries from 2000 to 2015. Our results show that the export of cultural products is conducive to the increase of international students, and in particular, international students choose to study in deve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc
Main Authors Hao, Wei, Yuan, Ran, Zhao, Laixun
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 01.01.2019
Subjects
Foreign students
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Summary:We examine the role of cultural factors in attracting international students, using data of 102 countries from 2000 to 2015. Our results show that the export of cultural products is conducive to the increase of international students, and in particular, international students choose to study in developing countries whose official language and religious beliefs are different from their home countries, while they tend to go to developed countries with a common language. We also examine the features of international students in China and Chinese students in other countries. The policy implication from our study is that "soft power" such as a unique culture, common value and migration networks is important in attracting foreign students.