Arbeitspapier
The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: an Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms
Many U.S. businessmen are vocally in favor of an increase in the number of H-1B visas. Is there systematic evidence that this would positively affect firms' productivity, sales, employment or profits? To address these questions we assemble a unique dataset that matches all labor condition applications (LCAs) - the first step towards H-1B visas for skilled foreign-born workers in the U.S. - with firm-level data on publicly traded U.S. firms (from Compustat). Our identification is based on the sharp reduction in the annual H-1B cap that took place in 2004, combined with information on the degree of dependency on H-1B visas at the firm level as in Kerr and Lincoln (2010). The main result of this paper is that if the cap on H-1B visas were relaxed, a subset of firms would experience gains in average labor productivity, firm size, and profits. These are firms that conduct R&D and are heavy users of H-1B workers - they belong to the top quintile among filers of LCAs. These empirical findings are consistent with a heterogeneous- firms model where innovation enhances productivity and is subject to fixed costs.
- Language
-
Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
-
Series: CReAM Discussion Paper Series ; No. 42/14
- Classification
-
Wirtschaft
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
-
Ghosh, Anirban
Mayda, Anna Maria
Ortega, Francesc
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
-
Centre for Research & Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London
- (where)
-
London
- (when)
-
2014
- Last update
-
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Ghosh, Anirban
- Mayda, Anna Maria
- Ortega, Francesc
- Centre for Research & Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London
Time of origin
- 2014
Other Objects (12)
The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: An Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms
Essays on corporate social responsibility in large, publicly traded firms
Does Employee Stock Ownership Work? Evidence from Publicly-Traded Firms in Japan
Corporate governance provisions, family involvement, and firm performance in publicly traded family firms
Control Preference and Financial Attributes: Founders as CEOs in Small, Publicly Traded Firms
Estimating scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through the shareholder network of publicly traded firms
Changes in the composition of publicly traded firms: Implications for the dividend-price ratio and return predictability
Financing policies of Croatian publicly listed firms
Train drain? Access to skilled foreign workers and firms' provision of training
Which firms employ older workers?
How Do Firms Redline Workers?
The Performance of Publicly Traded European Venture Capital Companies
The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: An Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms
Essays on corporate social responsibility in large, publicly traded firms
Does Employee Stock Ownership Work? Evidence from Publicly-Traded Firms in Japan
Corporate governance provisions, family involvement, and firm performance in publicly traded family firms
Control Preference and Financial Attributes: Founders as CEOs in Small, Publicly Traded Firms
Estimating scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through the shareholder network of publicly traded firms
Changes in the composition of publicly traded firms: Implications for the dividend-price ratio and return predictability
Financing policies of Croatian publicly listed firms
Train drain? Access to skilled foreign workers and firms' provision of training
Which firms employ older workers?
How Do Firms Redline Workers?
The Performance of Publicly Traded European Venture Capital Companies
The Impact of Skilled Foreign Workers on Firms: An Investigation of Publicly Traded U.S. Firms
Essays on corporate social responsibility in large, publicly traded firms
Does Employee Stock Ownership Work? Evidence from Publicly-Traded Firms in Japan
Corporate governance provisions, family involvement, and firm performance in publicly traded family firms
Control Preference and Financial Attributes: Founders as CEOs in Small, Publicly Traded Firms
Estimating scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through the shareholder network of publicly traded firms
Changes in the composition of publicly traded firms: Implications for the dividend-price ratio and return predictability
Financing policies of Croatian publicly listed firms
Train drain? Access to skilled foreign workers and firms' provision of training
Which firms employ older workers?
How Do Firms Redline Workers?