Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US Ethnic Invention
    21 Jan 2009Working Paper Summaries

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

    by William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln
    The H-1B visa program governs most admissions of temporary immigrants into the U.S. for employment in patenting-related fields. This program has become a point of significant controversy in the public debate over immigration, with proponents and detractors at odds over how important H-1B admission levels are for U.S. technology advancement and whether native U.S. workers are being displaced by immigrants. In this study, Kerr and Lincoln quantify the impact of changes in H-1B admission levels on the pace and character of U.S. invention over the 1995-2006 period. Key concepts include:
    • Immigrants represented 24 percent and 47 percent of the U.S.'s scientists and engineers (S&Es) with bachelors and doctorate educations in the 2000 Census, respectively. Immigrants have accounted for most of the net increase in U.S. S&Es since 1995.
    • Because it governs the admissions of many S&E immigrants, the H-1B program plays an important role in U.S. innovation. Moreover, the policy shifts in this program have been relatively large compared to other policies concerning immigration or innovation.
    • 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 little impact on the invention rates of native U.S. workers, although a small crowding-in effect may exist. Most increases in U.S. innovation with higher H-1B admissions come through direct contributions of the immigrants themselves.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author 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.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: December 2008
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 09-005
    • Faculty Unit(s): Entrepreneurial Management
      Trending
        • 17 Mar 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        Navigating Tradeoffs: How Purpose Becomes a Company's ‘Lighthouse in the Storm’

        • 13 Jun 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        Extroverts, Your Colleagues Wish You Would Just Shut Up and Listen

        • 30 Jun 2022
        • HBS Case

        Peloton Changed the Exercise Game. Can the Company Push Through the Pain?

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

        • 18 Apr 2022
        • HBS Case

        Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

    William R. Kerr
    William R. Kerr
    Dimitri V. D'Arbeloff - MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration
    Unit Head, Entrepreneurial Management
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Innovation and Invention
    • Diversity
    • Race
    • North & Central America
    • United States

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College