Working Paper: NBER ID: w24519
Authors: Ajay Agrawal; John McHale; Alex Oettl
Abstract: The recruitment of foreign scientists enhances US science through an expanded workforce but could also cause harm by displacing better connected domestic scientists, thereby reducing localized knowledge spillovers. We develop a model in which a sufficient condition for the absence of overall harm is that immigrant scientists generate at least the same level of localized spillovers as the domestic scientists they displace. To test this condition, we conduct an experiment in which each immigrant hypothetically displaces an appropriately matched domestic scientist. Overall, we do not find evidence that immigrant scientists harm US science by crowding out better-connected domestic scientists.
Keywords: scientist immigration; knowledge spillovers; localized spillovers; US science; economic growth
JEL Codes: F22; J61; O33; O34
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| immigrant scientists (J61) | domestic scientists (D13) |
| immigrant scientists (J61) | localized knowledge spillovers (R32) |
| displacement of domestic scientists (F22) | localized knowledge spillovers (R32) |
| immigrant scientists generate localized spillovers (J61) | overall harm avoided (J17) |
| post-immigration citation rates equalize (J11) | knowledge flows (O36) |
| immigrant scientists (J61) | US science (I29) |
| domestic scientists (D13) | localized knowledge spillovers (R32) |