The number of immigrants in the US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and among recipients of advanced STEM degrees at US universities has increased in recent decades. In light of the current public debate about immigration, there is a need for evidence on the economic impacts of immigrants on the STEM workforce and on innovation. Using new data and state-of-the-art empirical methods, this volume examines various aspects of the relationships between immigration, innovation, and entrepreneurship, including the effects of changes in the number of immigrants and their skill composition on the rate of innovation; the relationship between high-skilled immigration and entrepreneurship; and the differences between immigrant and native entrepreneurs. It presents new evidence on the postgraduation migration patterns of STEM doctoral recipients, in particular the likelihood these graduates will return to their home country. This volume also examines the role of the US higher education system and of US visa policy in attracting foreign students for graduate study and retaining them after graduation.

Ina Ganguli is associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Shulamit Kahn is associate professor of markets, public policy, and law at the Boston University Questrom School of Business. Megan MacGarvie is associate professor of markets, public policy, and law at the Boston University Questrom School of Business and a research associate of the NBER.
 

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Ina Ganguli, Shulamit Kahn, and Megan MacGarvie

I.       Location Choices of International Students and Return Migration

1.         Return Migrants’ Self-Selection: Evidence for Indian Inventors
Stefano Breschi, Francesco Lissoni, and Ernest Miguelez

2.         Will the US Keep the Best and the Brightest (as Postdocs)? Career and Location Preferences of Foreign STEM PhDs
Ina Ganguli and Patrick Gaulé

II.      Immigration Policy and Innovation

3.         High-Skill Immigration, Innovation, and Creative Destruction
Gaurav Khanna and Munseob Lee

4.         New Data and Facts on H-1B Workers across Firms
Anna Maria Mayda, Francesc Ortega, Giovanni Peri, Kevin Shih, and Chad Sparber

5.         Immigration and Invention: Does Language Matter?
Kirk Doran and Chungeun Yoon

III.     Immigration and Entrepreneurship

6.         Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovation in the US High-Tech Sector
J. David Brown, John S. Earle, Mee Jung Kim, and Kyung Min Lee

7.         Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC
Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

8.         Are Foreign STEM PhDs More Entrepreneurial? Entrepreneurial Characteristics, Preferences, and Employment Outcomes of Native and Foreign Science and Engineering PhD Students
Michael Roach, Henry Sauermann, and John Skrentny
 
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index