Chinese students

Immigration is rapidly changing the composition of the R&D workforce in the

United States, with important implications for both management and public policy.

We study here the Chinese chemists and chemical engineers who migrate to the United

States for their graduate studies. We analyze productivity at the individual researcher

level, thus bypassing the identification issues that earlier studies had to confront

when analyzing the relationship between immigration and innovation at the university

or firm level. Using new data and measurement techniques, we find robust evidence

that Chinese students make disproportionate contributions to the scientific output of

their advisors and departments. We attribute this result to a selection effect as it is

relatively more difficult for Chinese students to gain admission into U.S. PhD programs.

Our results strengthen the case for liberal student migration policies.