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  • 2008
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention

By: William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:50
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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.

Keywords

Information Technology; Patents; Ethnicity; Immigration; Innovation and Invention; United States

Citation

Kerr, William R., and William F. Lincoln. "The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-005, December 2008. (FAQ on paper, Appendix, forthcoming at Journal of Labor Economics.)
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About The Author

William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurial Management
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