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Are Immigrants the Most Skilled U.S. Computer and Engineering Workers?

In: US High-Skilled Immigration in the Global Economy

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  • Jennifer Hunt

Abstract

Using the American Community Surveys, I examine the wages of immigrant computer and engineering workers. Immigrants' higher education gives them a wage advantage over natives, an advantage larger for computer than for engineering workers, and larger in occupation-based samples than in education-based samples. Among holders of engineering degrees, immigrants earn less than natives, penalized by a high return to English proficiency. The results suggest that imperfect English may reduce their occupational advancement, or an unobserved factor may reduce both occupational advancement and the incentive to perfect English. In all samples, top immigrants from the highest-income countries far outearn top natives.
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Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Hunt, 2012. "Are Immigrants the Most Skilled U.S. Computer and Engineering Workers?," NBER Chapters, in: US High-Skilled Immigration in the Global Economy, pages 39-77, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:13241
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    Cited by:

    1. Crown, Daniel & Faggian, Alessandra & Corcoran, Jonathan, 2020. "Foreign-Born graduates and innovation: Evidence from an Australian skilled visa program✰,✰✰,★,★★," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(9).
    2. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2015. "Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures of US Firms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 147-186.
    3. Edoardo Ferrucci & Francesco Lissoni & Ernest Miguelez, 2020. "Coming from afar and picking a man’s job:Women immigrant inventors in the United States," Working Papers hal-03098102, HAL.
    4. Diego Useche & Ernest Miguelez & Francesco Lissoni, 2020. "Highly skilled and well connected: Migrant inventors in cross-border M&As," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(5), pages 737-763, July.
    5. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2016. "Immigrant Entrepreneurship," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 187-249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Ernest Miguelez & Andrea Morrison, 2023. "Migrant inventors as agents of technological change," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 669-692, April.
    7. Garnett Picot & Feng Hou, 2019. "Why do STEM immigrants do better in one country than another?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 459-459, April.
    8. David J Deming & Kadeem Noray, 2020. "Earnings Dynamics, Changing Job Skills, and STEM Careers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 1965-2005.
    9. Bryan Malki & Timur Uman & Daniel Pittino, 2022. "The entrepreneurial financing of the immigrant entrepreneurs: a literature review," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1337-1365, March.
    10. Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Fernandez, Viviana & Bui, Trang, 2023. "Immigration and entrepreneurship: Is there a uniform relationship across countries?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 270-285.
    11. Gordon H. Hanson, 2021. "Immigration and Regional Specialization in AI," NBER Working Papers 28671, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    13. Ma, Jie, 2020. "High skilled immigration and the market for skilled labor: The role of occupational choice," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    14. Ferrucci, Edoardo & Lissoni, Francesco, 2019. "Foreign inventors in Europe and the United States: Diversity and Patent Quality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    15. Lin, Gary C., 2019. "High-skilled immigration and native task specialization in U.S. cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 289-305.
    16. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2016. "Immigrant Entrepreneurship," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 187-249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Younjun Kim & Eric Thompson, 2021. "Routine-Biased Technological Change and Declining Employment Rate of Immigrants," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 319-353, June.
    18. Sameeksha Desai & Wim Naudé & Nora Stel, 2021. "Refugee entrepreneurship: context and directions for future research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 933-945, February.
    19. Francesco LISSONI, 2016. "Migration and Innovation Diffusion : An Eclectic Survey," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2016-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    20. Agrawal, Ajay & McHale, John & Oettl, Alexander, 2019. "Does scientist immigration harm US science? An examination of the knowledge spillover channel," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1248-1259.
    21. Edward P. Lazear, 2017. "Why Are Some Immigrant Groups More Successful than Others?," NBER Working Papers 23548, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Ajay Agrawal & John McHale & Alex Oettl, 2018. "Does Scientist Immigration Harm US Science? An Examination of Spillovers," NBER Working Papers 24519, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & Tina Xu, 2017. "Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature," NBER Working Papers 24097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Diego Useche & Ernest Miguelez & Francesco Lissoni, 2019. "Highly skilled and well connected: Migrant inventors in cross-border M&As," Post-Print halshs-02024499, HAL.

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