Kevin Shih

STEM Workers, H-1B Visas, and Productivity in US Cities

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers are fundamental inputs for innovation, the main driver of productivity growth. We identify the long-run effect of STEM employment growth on outcomes for native workers across 219 US cities from 1990 to 2010. We use the 1980 distribution of foreign-born STEM workers and variation in the H-1B visa program to identify supply-driven STEM increases across cities. Increases in STEM workers are associated with significant wage gains for college-educated natives. Gains for non-college-educated natives are smaller but still significant. Our results imply that foreign STEM increased total factor productivity growth in US cities.

Foreign Scientists and Engineers and Economic Growth in Canadian Labor Markets

In this paper we analyze the impact of foreign-born workers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) on employment and wages in Canadian geographical areas during the period 1991-2006. Canadian policies select immigrants with a strong emphasis on high educational attainment. Moreover the foreign-born constitute a third of the Canadian population making Canada a very good case to analyze the effect of foreign-STEM workers on the local economy. We use the dispersion of immigrants by nationality across 17 geographical areas in 1981 to predict the supply-driven increase in foreign Scientists and Engineers during the period 1991-2006. Then we analyze their impact on the employment and wages of college and non-college educated Canadian-born (native) workers. We find significant positive effects on the wages and (to a lesser extent) employment of college educated natives. We also find a smaller positive effect on the wages and employment of native workers with very low levels of education (i.e. those with no high school degree). This implies a positive productivity effect of foreign-STEM workers in Canada, and also a college bias in their contribution to productivity growth. Compared to the effect of foreign Scientists and Engineers in US cities, the Canadian results show similar effects on wages of college educated and at least partial evidence of a positive diffusion of the effect to non-college educated, which was not present in the US.

Recognizing the role of skilled immigration

A scholar examines the rewards and shortcomings of global talent in the United States William Kerrs The Gift of Global Talent reveals that much of Americas prosperity can be traced to its long history as a leading destination for skilled immigrants.

The effect of the H-1B quota on the employment and selection of foreign-born labor

The H-1B program allows skilled foreign-born individuals to work in the United States. The annual quota on new H-1B visa issuances fell from 195,000 to 65,000 for employees of most firms in fiscal year 2004. However, this cap did not apply to new employees of colleges, universities, and non-profit research institutions. Additionally, existing H-1B holders seeking to renew their visa were also exempt from the quota. Using a triple difference approach, this paper demonstrates that cap restrictions significantly reduced the employment of new H-1B workers in for-profit firms relative to what would have occurred in an unconstrained environment. Employment of similar native workers in for profit firms did not change, however, consistently with a low degree of substitutability between H1B and native workers. The restriction also redistributed H-1Bs toward computer-related occupations, Indian-born workers, and firms using the H-1B program intensively.

The Impact of International Students on US Graduate Education

This paper examines whether international students affect domestic enrollment in graduate education, focusing on a unique boom and bust in international enrollment at US universities from 1995-2005. Increases in international students expand domestic enrollment. These expansions arise from cross-subsidization ― foreign tuition creates Research and Teaching positions (RA/TA) for domestic students. Decreases in international students during the bust have no effect, as universities decrease RA/TA positions held by international students to equalize the loss in tuition revenue. Effects are identified using instruments that interact universities’ historical foreign presence with supply shocks ― population growth in sending countries for the boom, and post- 9/11 declines in visa issuance during the bust.