Research
Research
Working Papers
Abstract
Can foreign students at U.S. universities, with a brief work extension, become inventors without displacing native talent? This paper examines one of the most significant recent U.S. immigration policy changes, the 2008 STEM Optional Practical Training extension, which gives international STEM graduates an additional 17 months of work authorization. I show a 60%– 86.8% increase in the number of first-time immigrant inventors and a 17.6%–23.4% increase in the share of first-time immigrant inventors in CBSAs with R1 universities relative to other areas after the policy change. I find no evidence of first-time native inventors being displaced.
Match Quality, Task Specialization, and the Impacts of the STEM OPT Extension (with Megan MacGarvie and Shulamit Kahn; in preparation for submission)
Abstract
We study the effects of a change to the Optional Practical Training program which allowed international student graduates in STEM fields to spend more time in the US after completing their studies. Masters’ graduates in cohorts of international students affected by this policy change are more likely to perform tasks or work in occupations closely related to their fields of study. The increase is restricted to those employed in business or industry. Computing is the specific work activity exhibiting the biggest increase among temporary residents, followed by basic research.
Work in Progress
Exposure to Advanced Host Countries and Returnee Entrepreneurship: Evidence from the U.S. (Job Market Paper)
Ethnic Absorptive Capacity (with Jeffrey Furman)
Consecration Effects in Innovation: Evidence from Top U.S. Inventors (with Gino Cattani and Deepak Hegde)