This dissertation explores the link between doctorate holders' job mobility, which is defined as a change of employers, and their knowledge production. For this, three research questions have been addressed: (1) Does job mobility affect doctorate holders' research productivity? (2) Does the effect of job mobility on research productivity differ by the sector of previous employer? (3) Does the effect of job mobility on research productivity differ by reasons for job mobility? The findings of this study reveal that mobility itself does not suffice to drive research productivity gains. Specifically, this study found no significant impact of doctorate holders' job mobility in general on their post-mobility research productivity measured by the number of presentations/publications. However, in further investigation of possible differences in the relationship depending on different contexts of changing employers in terms of their career background (i.e., which sector were they from?) and reasons for job mobility, reasons for changing employers appeared to make differences in post-mobility research performance of those who were active in research activities, although the differences were only significant for presentation productivity. These findings suggest that job mobility occurs within complex personal and professional situations of individuals and that how the career events shape the individuals' professional development and outcomes can appear differently within different contexts. In other words, the distribution and development of resources for knowledge production at the collective level cannot be disentangled from doctorate holders' career decisions and patterns at the individual level. Therefore, scholarly and practical efforts to expand knowledge production systems and improve the efficiency of human resources need to be accompanied by specific attention to individual careers.
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