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The Impact of Immigration on Firms and Workers: Insights from the H-1B Lottery

Author

Listed:
  • Parag Mahajan
  • Nicolas Morales
  • Kevin Shih
  • Mingyu Chen
  • Agostina Brinatti

Abstract

We study how random variation in the availability of highly educated, foreign-born workers impacts firm performance and recruitment behavior. We combine two rich data sources: 1) administrative employer-employee matched data from the US Census Bureau; and 2) firm level information on the first large-scale H-1B visa lottery in 2007. Using an event-study approach, we find that lottery wins lead to increases in firm hiring of college-educated, immigrant labor along with increases in scale and survival. These effects are stronger for small, skill-intensive, and high-productivity firms that participate in the lottery. We do not find evidence for displacement of native-born, college-educated workers at the firm level, on net. However, this result masks dynamics among more specific subgroups of incumbents that we further elucidate.

Suggested Citation

  • Parag Mahajan & Nicolas Morales & Kevin Shih & Mingyu Chen & Agostina Brinatti, 2024. "The Impact of Immigration on Firms and Workers: Insights from the H-1B Lottery," Working Papers 24-19, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:24-19
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2024/adrm/ces/CES-WP-24-19.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2024
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; firm dynamics; productivity; H-1B visa; high-skilled migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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