Jul 15
Dr. William Kerr of Harvard Business School Published a Study on Immigrants and US Innovation.
Abstract:
How does high-skilled immigration affect innovation in receiving countries? This column examines how large fluctuations in the admissions levels of H-1B visa holders between 1995 and 2008 influenced US patenting. It suggests higher H-1B admissions increased US innovation through the direct contributions of the immigrants without crowding out those of natives.
An article by William Kerr & William Lincoln,
published online 15 July 2010
Full Article Source: http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/5296
Bush administration did a big mistake trying to push comprehensive Immigration Reform at once. The entire reform sank in 2006-2007 after multiple attempts. Current administration should learn from those mistakes and address different issues separately. Mainly, illegal immigration and border security should be addressed separately from issues related to ‘legal’ immigration.
One of ‘legal’ immigration issues is an increasing H1B cap for skilled workers with degrees (BS, MA, PhD) from U.S. universities. It is a known fact that many talented international students end up going back to their country to work for foreign competitors.
While different research articles debate whether Americans have tougher times in job search because of being “crowded out” by foreign workforce, two facts are evident to everybody:
1) US universities’ train students who end up working for foreign competitors.
2) A ‘new normal’ job search environment: on average Americans spend more than 6 months to find another job, longest unemployment since World War II.
It is my hope Obama administration will address separately issues of: a) illegal immigrants and securing borders and b) increasing of U.S. competitiveness in global economy through immigration incentives for highly skilled workforce, i.e. BS, MS, PhD degree holders to retain the best and the brightest in U.S.