Working Paper: NBER ID: w11217
Authors: George J. Borjas
Abstract: The rapid growth in the number of foreign students enrolled in American universities has transformed the higher education system, particularly at the graduate level. Many of these newly minted doctorates remain in the United States after receiving their doctoral degrees, so that the foreign student influx can have a significant impact in the labor market for high-skill workers. Using data drawn from the Survey of Earned Doctorates and the Survey of Doctoral Recipients, the study shows that a foreign student influx into a particular doctoral field at a particular time had a significant and adverse effect on the earnings of doctorates in that field who graduated at roughly the same time. A 10 percent immigration-induced increase in the supply of doctorates lowers the wage of competing workers by about 3 percent.
Keywords: high-skill immigration; labor market impact; foreign students; doctorates; wages
JEL Codes: J1; J4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| high-skill immigration (J61) | earnings of doctorates (J31) |
| 10 percent increase in supply of doctorates due to immigration (J69) | wages of competing workers (J31) |
| influx of foreign students (F22) | earnings of competing workers (J31) |