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Presenter: Chuong Huynh

Faculty Sponsor: Kevin L. Young

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Public Policy

Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Auditorium, A70

ABSTRACT

In recent years, U.S. immigration policies have become increasingly restrictive. While much of the debate has focused on concerns about unauthorized immigration during the Obama presidency, there was also a notable tightening of policies affecting high-skilled immigrants beginning in 2017 under the Trump administration, particularly within the H-1B visa program. Although the program was strongly supported during the late 1990s technology boom, it has faced greater scrutiny and regulatory constraints since the 2010s. This study examines the spillover effects of H-1B visa restrictions on domestic employment and firm-level innovation in the United States. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) framework, we exploit variation in firms’ pre-policy dependence on H-1B labor and compare outcomes before and after the implementation of restrictive measures across cities, states, and counties. Employment data are combined with Labor Condition Application (LCA) disclosures and patent records from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to measure changes in workforce composition and innovative output. The study hypothesizes that a decrease in the H-1B workforce will ultimately lead to a decline in innovation output, given the substantial intellectual contributions that high-skilled immigrant workers make to the U.S. economy. The findings aim to shed light on the broader impact of immigration policy on innovation ecosystems and to provide policymakers with evidence to design visa incentives that promote productive efficiency.