Foreign and Native-Born STEM Graduates and Innovation Intensity in the United States

Arbeitspapier

This paper examines the effects of foreign- and native-born STEM graduates and non-STEM graduates on patent intensity in U.S. metropolitan areas. I find that both native and foreign-born STEM graduates significantly increase metropolitan area patent intensity, but college graduates in non-STEM fields have a smaller and statistically insignificant effect on patenting. These findings hold for both cross-sectional OLS and 2SLS regressions. I also use time-differenced 2SLS regressions to estimate the effects of STEM-driven increases in native and foreign college graduate shares and again find that both native and foreign STEM graduates have statistically significant and economically large effects on innovation. Together these results suggest that policies that increase the stocks of both foreign and native STEM graduates increase innovation and provide considerable economic benefits to regions and nations.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 8575

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Economic Development ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives ; Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity
• Subject: STEM ; innovation ; patents ; human capital ; higher education

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Winters, John V.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/104660
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET