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

Author

Listed:
  • Mahajan, Parag

    (University of Delaware)

  • Morales, Nicolas

    (Richmond Fed)

  • Shih, Kevin Y.

    (Queens College, CUNY)

  • Chen, Mingyu

    (IZA)

  • Brinatti, Agostina

    (University of Michigan)

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) firmlevel 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

  • Mahajan, Parag & Morales, Nicolas & Shih, Kevin Y. & Chen, Mingyu & Brinatti, Agostina, 2024. "The Impact of Immigration on Firms and Workers: Insights from the H-1B Lottery," IZA Discussion Papers 16917, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16917
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andreas Beerli & Jan Ruffner & Michael Siegenthaler & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The Abolition of Immigration Restrictions and the Performance of Firms and Workers: Evidence from Switzerland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 976-1012, March.
    2. Takao Kato & Chad Sparber, 2013. "Quotas and Quality: The Effect of H-1B Visa Restrictions on the Pool of Prospective Undergraduate Students from Abroad," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 109-126, March.
    3. Kirk Doran & Alexander Gelber & Adam Isen, 2022. "The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from Visa Lotteries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(10), pages 2501-2533.
    4. Davis, Steven J & Haltiwanger, John & Schuh, Scott, 1996. "Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing the Facts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 297-315, August.
    5. Ariel Burstein & Gordon Hanson & Lin Tian & Jonathan Vogel, 2020. "Tradability and the Labor‐Market Impact of Immigration: Theory and Evidence From the United States," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(3), pages 1071-1112, May.
    6. Prithwiraj Choudhury & Do Yoon Kim, 2019. "The ethnic migrant inventor effect: Codification and recombination of knowledge across borders," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 203-229, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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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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