The Labor Market Impact of High-Skill Immigration

13 Pages Posted: 28 Apr 2005 Last revised: 27 Aug 2022

See all articles by George J. Borjas

George J. Borjas

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: March 2005

Abstract

The rapid growth in the number of foreign students enrolled in American universities has transformed the higher education system, particularly at the graduate level. Many of these newly minted doctorates remain in the United States after receiving their doctoral degrees, so that the foreign student influx can have a significant impact in the labor market for high-skill workers. Using data drawn from the Survey of Earned Doctorates and the Survey of Doctoral Recipients, the study shows that a foreign student influx into a particular doctoral field at a particular time had a significant and adverse effect on the earnings of doctorates in that field who graduated at roughly the same time. A 10 percent immigration-induced increase in the supply of doctorates lowers the wage of competing workers by about 3 percent.

Suggested Citation

Borjas, George J., The Labor Market Impact of High-Skill Immigration (March 2005). NBER Working Paper No. w11217, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=689398

George J. Borjas (Contact Author)

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