The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from H-1B Visa Lotteries

65 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 2014 Last revised: 18 Jun 2015

See all articles by Kirk Doran

Kirk Doran

University of Notre Dame

Alexander M. Gelber

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; National Bureau of Economic Research

Adam Isen

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis (OTA)

Date Written: June 16, 2015

Abstract

We study the effect of a firm winning an additional H-1B visa on the firm’s outcomes, by comparing winning and losing firms in the Fiscal Year 2006 and 2007 H-1B visa lotteries. We match administrative data on the participants in these lotteries to the universe of approved U.S. patents, and to IRS data on the universe of U.S. firms. Winning additional H-1B visas has insignificant effects on firms’ patenting and use of the research and experimentation tax credit, with confidence intervals that generally rule out more than modest effects. Additional H-1Bs cause at most a moderate increase in firms’ overall employment, and these H-1Bs substantially crowd out firms’ employment of other workers. There is some evidence that additional H-1Bs lead to lower average employee earnings and higher firm profits.

Keywords: Immigration, H-1B, Patenting, Employment, lotteries, random, research and experimentation tax credit

JEL Classification: J18, J21, J23, J24, J44, J48, J61, O3, O32, O34, O38

Suggested Citation

Doran, Kirk and Gelber, Alexander M. and Isen, Adam, The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from H-1B Visa Lotteries (June 16, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2523241 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2523241

Kirk Doran

University of Notre Dame ( email )

361 Mendoza College of Business
Notre Dame, IN 46556-5646
United States

Alexander M. Gelber (Contact Author)

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ( email )

1403 Steinberg-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6372
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org/~agelber

National Bureau of Economic Research ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Adam Isen

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis (OTA) ( email )

1500 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 22203
United States

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