High-Skilled Migration to the United States and Its Economic Consequences

Gordon H. Hanson; William R. Kerr; Sarah  Turner

Book | 2018

High-Skilled Migration to the United States and Its Economic Consequences

by Gordon H. Hanson, William R. Kerr and Sarah Turner

Abstract

Immigration policy is one of the most contentious public policy issues in the United States today. High-skilled immigrants represent an increasing share of the U.S. workforce, particularly in science and engineering fields. These immigrants affect economic growth, patterns of trade, education choices, and the earnings of workers with different types of skills. The chapters in this volume go beyond the traditional question of how the inflow of foreign workers affects native employment and earnings to explore effects on innovation and productivity, wage inequality across skill groups, the behavior of multinational firms, firm-level dynamics of entry and exit, and the nature of comparative advantage across countries.

Keywords: Immigration; Policy; Economics; Outcome or Result; United States;

Format: Print

Find at Harvard Purchase

Citation:

Hanson, Gordon H., William R. Kerr and Sarah Turner, eds. High-Skilled Migration to the United States and Its Economic Consequences. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Faced with intense competition from Amazon, Walmart began a transformation of its operations and workforce in 2015. The goal was to create an omnichannel retail experience for customers that seamlessly joined online and offline shopping. This case explores Walmart's efforts to deliver this through investments in its workforce makeup and training, digital infrastructure, and automation technology.

A Teaching Note for the "AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow" case study (HBS#820-017). The case describes how AT&T designed and implemented a program to retrain 100,000 of its workers. The case first reviews the technological forces that compelled AT&T to change its competitive strategy in the late 2010s, which in turn threatened to make its workforce’s skillsets obsolete. The case then performs a deep dive on AT&T’s solution, the “Workforce 2020” retraining program. The case concludes by reviewing the early results and potential societal implications of the workforce model.

Faculty & Research

High-Skilled Migration to the United States and Its Economic Consequences

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author