High-skilled immigration enhances regional entrepreneurship

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Tareque, Inara S.; Guzman, Jorge; Wang, Dan
• 署名单位: Columbia University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-8586
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402001121
• 发表日期: 2024-09-10
• 关键词: knowledge transfer; self-employment; GROWTH

摘要

Immigrants are highly entrepreneurial. But, what is the broader relationship between high-skilled immigration and regional entrepreneurship activity beyond the ventures that immigrants establish themselves? Using administrative data on newly awarded H-1B visas in the United States, we document a positive relationship between high- skilled immigration and regional entrepreneurship. A doubling of immigrants to a metropolitan statistical area is followed by a 6% increase in entrepreneurship within three years. In contrast, continuing H-1Bs and the arrival of unskilled immigrants (H-2B visas) do not increase regional entrepreneurship. Focusing on Indian immigrants (representing about 70% of all H-1B visas), we find the effect is stronger in metropolitan statistical areas with a larger local Indian population, but not other nationalities, suggesting that presence of conationals facilitates the relationship between high-skilled immigration and regional entrepreneurship. We present this and other evidence as consistent with a knowledge transfer mechanism.