How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?
How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?
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DOI：
10.3386/w14312
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发表时间：
2008-09
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
M. Gauthier-Loiselle;J. Hunt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Gauthier-Loiselle;J. Hunt
我们通过探索个人专利申请行为以及州一级专利申请的决定因素来衡量技术移民在美国增加创新的程度。2003年全国大学毕业生调查显示，移民的专利率是本地人的两倍，这完全是因为他们不成比例地持有科学和工程学位。这些数据表明，移民大学毕业生在人口中的比例每增加一个百分点，人均专利就会增加6%。如果移民发明家排挤本土发明家，这可能是对移民利益的高估，或者如果移民对发明家有积极的溢出效应，这可能是低估。使用1940-2000年的州小组，我们表明，移民确实有积极的溢出，导致人均专利增加9-18%，以应对移民大学毕业生增加一个百分点。我们隔离的因果关系的影响，通过仪器的变化，在一个国家的技术移民的份额与国家的预测增加的技术移民的份额。我们根据1940年来自不同来源地区的移民在各州的分布情况以及随后来自这些地区的技术移民在全国范围内的增长情况来计算后者。
We measure the extent to which skilled immigrants increase innovation in the United States by exploring individual patenting behavior as well as state-level determinants of patenting. The 2003 National Survey of College Graduates shows that immigrants patent at double the native rate, and that this is entirely accounted for by their disproportionately holding degrees in science and engineering. These data imply that a one percentage point rise in the share of immigrant college graduates in the population increases patents per capita by 6%. This could be an overestimate of immigration's benefit if immigrant inventors crowd out native inventors, or an underestimate if immigrants have positive spill-overs on inventors. Using a 1940-2000 state panel, we show that immigrants do have positive spill-overs, resulting in an increase in patents per capita of 9-18% in response to a one percentage point increase in immigrant college graduates. We isolate the causal effect by instrumenting the change in the share of skilled immigrants in a state with the state's predicted increase in the share of skilled immigrants. We base the latter on the 1940 distribution across states of immigrants from various source regions and the subsequent national increase in skilled immigrants from these regions.