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The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US Ethnic Invention

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Author Info
William R. Kerr () (Harvard Business School, Entrepreneurial Management Unit)
William F. Lincoln () (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI)

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Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of high-skilled immigrants on US technology formation. Specifically, we use reduced-form specifications that exploit large changes in the H-1B visa program. Fluctuations in H-1B admissions levels significantly influence the rate of Indian and Chinese patenting in cities and firms dependent upon the program relative to their peers. Most specifications find weak crowding-in effects or no effect at all for native patenting. Total invention increases with higher admission levels primarily through the direct contributions of ethnic inventors.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Harvard Business School in its series Harvard Business School Working Papers with number 09-005.

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Length: 50 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:09-005

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Related research
Keywords: Innovation; Research and Development; Patents; Scientists; Engineers; Inventors; H-1B; Immigration; Ethnicity; India; China; Endogenous Growth.;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2003. "Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 56, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Richard B. Freeman, 2006. "People Flows in Globalization," NBER Working Papers 12315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2008. "Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-055, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. William Kerr & Edward Glaeser & Glenn Ellison, 2007. "What Causes Industry Agglomeration? Evidence from Coagglomeration Patterns," Working Papers 07-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Jennifer Hunt & Marjolaine Gauthier-Loiselle, 2008. "How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?," NBER Working Papers 14312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Giovanni Facchini & Anna Maria Mayda & Prachi Mishra, 2007. "Do Interest Groups Affect Immigration?," IZA Discussion Papers 3183, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  7. William R. Kerr, 2007. "The Ethnic Composition of US Inventors," Harvard Business School Working Papers 08-006, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  8. Luis A. Rivera-Batiz & Paul M. Romer, 1990. "Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth," NBER Working Papers 3528, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Chellaraj, Gnanaraj & Maskus, Keith E. & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2005. "The contribution of skilled immigration and international graduate students to U.S. innovation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3588, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  10. Daron Acemoglu & Joshua Linn, 2004. "Market Size in Innovation: Theory and Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(3), pages 1049-1090, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Ajay Agrawal & Devesh Kapur & John McHale, 2007. "Birds of a Feather - Better Together? Exploring the Optimal Spatial Distribution of Ethnic Inventors," NBER Working Papers 12823, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Friedberg, Rachel M & Hunt, Jennifer, 1995. "The Impact of Immigrants on Host Country Wages, Employment and Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 23-44, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. William R. Kerr, 2008. "The Agglomeration of US Ethnic Inventors," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-003, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  14. Ajay Agrawal & Devesh Kapur & John McHale, 2008. "Brain Drain or Brain Bank? The Impact of Skilled Emigration on Poor-Country Innovation," NBER Working Papers 14592, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?," NBER Working Papers 8841, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Madeline Zavodny, 2003. "The H-1B program and its effects on information technology workers," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, issue Q3, pages 33-43. [Downloadable!]
  17. Jaewoo Ryoo & Sherwin Rosen, 2004. "The Engineering Labor Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages S110-S140, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2001. "The Determinants of Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 191-229, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Richard B. Freeman, 2005. "Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?," NBER Working Papers 11457, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. William R. Kerr, 2008. "Ethnic Scientific Communities and International Technology Diffusion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 518-537, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages S71-102, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. William R. Kerr, 2008. "The Agglomeration of US Ethnic Inventors," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-003, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gauthier-Loiselle, Marjolaine & Hunt, Jennifer, 2009. "How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?," CEPR Discussion Papers 7116, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Jennifer Hunt, 2009. "Which Immigrants Are Most Innovative and Entrepreneurial? Distinctions by Entry Visa," NBER Working Papers 14920, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-19.

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