Postdoctoral Researchers: The Impact of Labor Regulations and Visa Policy

博士生和博士后的任命是研究和发展科学专门知识的关键投入。劳动力供给和研究需求的结合推动了美国高校博士后任命的日益普及，人数从1980年的18，399人增加到2014年的63，593人。尽管大学科学领域的教师和长期就业机会停滞不前，但博士后任命的数量继续增长，特别是在生命科学和生物医学领域。人们对基本就业保护和科学人才库的长期健康感到关切，这是因为长时间工作收入微薄，长期就业前景不确定。 由于新的科学发现和创新的管道取决于人才在科学劳动力的流动和持久性，这项研究为科学进步和经济繁荣的关键问题和政策提供信息。 本研究探讨了劳动力市场法规和移民政策如何影响科学劳动力市场的大学必须支付研究人员，研究生教育的成本，博士生和博士学位获得者从国外的流动。本研究的重点是三种类型的政策影响大学科学人员：学生（F- 1），交流访问者（J-1）和高技能专业工人（H-1B）的签证要求和条件;博士生的学费和其他所需费用;以及劳动规则，包括拟议的修改公平劳动标准法（FLSA）的最低工资门槛，以排除加班要求。 该项目从公立大学的行政工资数据和美国公民和移民服务局以及国土安全部发布的信息自由法案（FOIA）中建立了一个数据库，其中包括具有F-1，J-1和H-1B签证身份的博士学位。计量经济学分析将用于确定对科学人员的需求，包括对收入和就业分布的影响。

Doctoral students and post-doctoral appointments are critical inputs to research and develop scientific expertise. The combination of labor supply and research demand has fueled the increasing prevalence of post-doctoral appointments at U.S. colleges and universities, with numbers rising from 18,399 in 1980 to 63,593 in 2014. Even as job opportunities for faculty and permanent employment in university science have stagnated, the number of post-doc appointments has continued to grow, particularly in the life sciences and biomedical fields. Concerns about basic employment protections and the long-term health of the scientific talent pool stem from modest earnings for long hours and uncertain long-term job prospects. Because the pipeline of new scientific discoveries and innovation depends on the flow and persistence of talent in the scientific workforce, this research informs questions and policy critical to the progress of science and economic prosperity. This research examines how labor market regulations and immigration policies affect the scientific labor market in terms of what universities must pay research personnel, the costs of graduate education, and the flow of doctorate students and doctorate recipients from abroad. This research focuses on three types of policies affecting university scientific personnel: visa requirements and terms for student (F- 1), exchange visitor (J-1), and high-skill specialty workers (H-1B); tuition charges and other required expenses for doctorate students, and; labor rules including the proposed change in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum salary threshold for exclusion from overtime requirements. This project builds a database from administrative salary data from public universities and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) releases from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and Department of Homeland Security which include doctorate level individuals with F-1, J-1, and H-1B visa status. Econometric analysis will be used to identify the demand for scientific personnel, including effects on earnings and the distribution of employment.