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The Gift of Global Talent: Innovation Policy and the Economy

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  • William R. Kerr

Abstract

Talent is the most precious resource for today's knowledge-based economy, and a significant share of the US skilled workforce in technology fields is foreign born. The United States has long held a leading position in attracting global talent, but the gap between the United States and other countries is shrinking. Immigration policies like the H-1B visa program shape the admissions of foreign workers to the country and grant a particularly strong gatekeeping role to sponsoring firms and universities. This chapter explores the data around global talent flows and some of the economic implications of an employer-driven immigration approach.

Suggested Citation

  • William R. Kerr, 2020. "The Gift of Global Talent: Innovation Policy and the Economy," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ipolec:doi:10.1086/705637
    DOI: 10.1086/705637
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    Cited by:

    1. Amelia Litania & Giulia Ajmone Marsan, 2023. "Attracting Global Talents: Bringing Digital Nomads and the Highly Skilled into ASEAN," Working Papers PB-2023-11, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    2. William R. Kerr & Frederic Robert-Nicoud, 2020. "Tech Clusters," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 50-76, Summer.
    3. Selina Phan & Evan Cleave & Godwin Arku, 2020. "Innovation within the Context of Local Economic Development and Planning: Perspectives of City Practitioners," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 364-377.
    4. Cristelli, Gabriele & Lissoni, Francesco, 2020. "Free movement of inventors: open-border policy and innovation in Switzerland," MPRA Paper 120099, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jan 2024.
    5. Günter K. Stahl & Eren Akkan & B. Sebastian Reiche & Aida Hajro & Mary Zellmer-Bruhn & Mila Lazarova & Nicole Franziska Richter & Dan V. Caprar & Jelena Zikic & Ingmar Björkman & Chris Brewster & Jean, 2024. "Linking institutional context to the community and career embeddedness of skilled migrants: The role of destination- and origin-country identifications," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(6), pages 703-722, August.
    6. Andreas Beerli & Ronald Indergand & Johannes S. Kunz, 2023. "The supply of foreign talent: how skill-biased technology drives the location choice and skills of new immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 681-718, April.
    7. Chen, Yian & Chen, Lin & Li, Guiping, 2025. "Human capital expansion and urban innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 870-887.
    8. Selina Phan & Evan Cleave & Godwin Arku, 2020. "Innovation within the Context of Local Economic Development and Planning: Perspectives of City Practitioners," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 364-377.
    9. Pan, An & Zhang, Wenna & Shi, Xunpeng & Dai, Ling, 2022. "Climate policy and low-carbon innovation: Evidence from low-carbon city pilots in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Oliinyk, Olena & Mishchuk, Halyna & Bilan, Yuriy & Skare, Marinko, 2022. "Integrated assessment of the attractiveness of the EU for intellectual immigrants: A taxonomy-based approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    11. Cristelli, Gabriele & Lissoni, Francesco, 2020. "Free movement of inventors: open-border policy and innovation in Switzerland," MPRA Paper 104120, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Amornsiripanitch, Natee & Gompers, Paul A. & Hu, George & Vasudevan, Kaushik, 2023. "Getting schooled: Universities and VC-backed immigrant entrepreneurs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    13. Yanmin Guan & Na Wang, 2023. "Automatic modelling of networked innovation outsourcing-oriented talent competency in the era of artificial intelligence," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 408-414, February.
    14. Kyle R. Myers & Wei Yang Tham & Jerry Thursby & Marie Thursby & Nina Cohodes & Karim Lakhani & Rachel Mural & Yilun Xu, 2023. "New Facts and Data about Professors and their Research," Papers 2312.01442, arXiv.org.
    15. Das, Gouranga Gopal & Marjit, Sugata & Kar, Mausumi, 2020. "The Impact of Immigration on Skills, Innovation and Wages: Education Matters more than where People Come from," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 557-582.
    16. Natee Amornsiripanitch & Paul A. Gompers & George Hu & Kaushik Vasudevan, 2021. "Getting Schooled: The Role of Universities in Attracting Immigrant Entrepreneurs," NBER Working Papers 28773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Evgeniy Kutsenko & Kirill Tyurchev & Tatyana Ostashchenko, 2022. "Relocation as a Driver of Innovative Activity: A Global Study of Unicorn Founders’ Migration," Foresight and STI Governance, National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 16(4), pages 6-23.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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