Working Paper: NBER ID: w14920
Authors: Jennifer Hunt
Abstract: Using the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates, I examine how immigrants perform relative to natives in activities likely to increase U.S. productivity, according to the type of visa on which they first entered the United States. Immigrants who first entered on a student/trainee visa or a temporary work visa have a large advantage over natives in wages, patenting, commercializing or licensing patents, and publishing. In general, this advantage is explained by immigrants' higher education and field of study, but this is not the case for publishing, and immigrants are more likely to start companies than natives with similar education. Immigrants without U.S. education and who arrived at older ages suffer a wage handicap, which offsets savings to the United States from their having completed more education abroad. Immigrants who entered with legal permanent residence do not outperform natives for any of the outcomes considered.
Keywords: immigration; innovation; entrepreneurship; entry visa
JEL Codes: J61; O31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Visa type (Z38) | Wages (J31) |
| Visa type (Z38) | Patenting (O34) |
| Visa type (Z38) | Commercializing patents (O34) |
| Visa type (Z38) | Publishing (A19) |
| Higher education levels (I23) | Wages (J31) |
| Higher education levels (I23) | Patenting (O34) |
| Higher education levels (I23) | Commercializing patents (O34) |
| Higher education levels (I23) | Publishing (A19) |
| Age at arrival (J11) | Wages (J31) |
| Immigrants without US education (K37) | Wages (J31) |
| Legal permanent residency (K37) | Productivity outcomes (O49) |
| Visa type (Z38) | Starting companies (M13) |
| Self-selection effects (C92) | Innovation (O35) |
| Visa system influence (Z38) | Immigrant characteristics (J61) |