Immigration Breeds Innovation
It's hard to measure innovation. One way -- and it's flawed, but it's probably the best way we've got -- is by measuring how many patents are issued. The National Bureau of Economic Research did just that, and correlated it with the rate of legal immigration.
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%.
Are they just taking over native-born jobs? Not quite:
...we show that natives are not crowded out by immigrants, and that immigrants do have positive spill-overs, resulting in an increase in patents per capita of about 15% 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 initial share of immigrant high school dropouts from Europe, China and India. In both data sets, the positive impacts of immigrant post-college graduates and scientists and engineers are larger than for immigrant college graduates.
Another reason we need to be thoughtful and strategic about immigration. Some of it is very, very good for all of us.
- Comment (48)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (4)
Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
"Freedom Breeds Innovation"
Feb '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Are we allowed to break this down by countries of origin?
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
countries from europe and asia probably.
May '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
"Skilled" is a kind of caveat, no?
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Using patents to measure innovation is a really bad idea. Just because you have a set of data doesn't mean you can extract anything meaningful from it.
"If patent numbers are positively correlated with innovation, and lawyer numbers are positively correlated with patents, then the clear policy lesson is to bring back Allie McBeal."
Jun '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
A simpler explanation is that when and where the economy heats up, immigrants want part of the action. The argument is much like supposing that BMW's cause people to be wealthy.
May '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Legal immigrants, Rob. LEGAL immigrants. We don't need no stinking fruit pickers.
Aug '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
The key word really is "skilled." (I also agree with genferei about problems with the dependent variable). It's funny how immigration debate boils down to more vs less, or at best legal vs illegal, and nobody talks about the real issue which is a system that's almost entirely about family unification (read: chain migration) rather than skill. Even when conservatives get upset about chain migration they emphasize an end to birthright citizenship (which would probably violate the 14th amendment, not to mention the policy issue) rather than the unquestionably constitutional and much more politically and policy desirable goal of de-emphasizing family unification and emphasizing skill.
May '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
The tacit assumption is that conservatives somehow oppose immigration, which is ridiculous. We oppose illegal immigration, especially by low-skill, uneducated workers (who are not generating any patents). One of the worst things about illegal immigration is that it crowds out legal immigration. We need real immigration reform - not amnesty.
The most insidious thing about the lefties' big lies is that those lies start to worm their way into our own thinking. The lefties say we oppose all immigration because we are racists, and they repeat it so often that after a while we almost start to believe it. Don't!
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
The immigration policy of the US has become chaos, present and future. We have a pathological approach that prefers illegal and marginally legal, as in chain migration, over order.
In effect, our immigration policy is simply an extension of government by chaos, or is it crisis?
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
"Some of it is very, very good for all of us."
Some of it? Skilled, unskilled, it's all good. It is just another component of free trade.
If we keep unskilled workers out, then who does the "unskilled" work. Us! Maybe our time is better spent doing other things we are good at. Specialization and trade is how we produce economic growth. Not keeping people out.
The way to stop illegal immigration is the same way we stopped the illegal sale of alcohol during prohibition. We stopped making it illegal.
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
My bet is that unskilled immigrants increase innovation as well, but among US citizens.
All of that time we save not doing unskilled work can then be put into doing other things, like being innovative.
Heck, I might be more innovative if I didn't have to do so much work around the house. Unfortunately, our immigration laws restrict the potential pool of household servants dramatically.
Sep '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
I have two patents, and expect a third to issue within the next year. I have worked as an engineering leader for an electronics company with a full time patent legal staff.
There's another reason why immigrants produce a lot of patents. Employers who wish to transition an H1-B worker to a permanent resident (holding a "green card") have to justify to Immigration why the employee will make a significant contribution, and will not simply displace a similarly-qualified native American. The surefire way to accomplish this is to find something, anything to patent, and attach the H1-B's name to it. (This is also why the volume of patents handled by the USPTO has ballooned. Most of 'em are junk patents that aren't intended to create anything new.)
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Now if only one of them could patent a fence that can keep out illegal immigrants.
Mar '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Mr Murdoch is spot on. Quality is more important than quantity.
I came in on an H1-B, and it took about 7 years to progress through the minefield of legal immigration. There is actually a faster track for "exceptionally qualified" people, and patents are important to support that case - quantity is sufficient for that.
I have a number of patents, but only two that I am really proud of - they made my company at the time a lotta money, if not me.
Update: Another factor is the poor High School and Undergraduate education systems in the US - the result can be seen in OWS, rather than the Patent Office.
Edited on Nov 28, 2011 at 8:41amMay '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
When there isn't any other way to measure innovation, patent count is the best measure available. The law of large numbers still makes it a reasonable order-of-magnitude benchmark.
But the real issue is Rob's point that we need to be strategic about this, not reactive. Almost everything you see from conservative media, and comments at Ricochet, is knee-jerk reactive.
We should hand green cards to every Chinese or Indian PhD who graduates in a hard science field, and recognize that with a long common border, it makes no sense to talk of Mexicans and other Latinos as though they are enemies. No more whining about "AMNESTY" every time some reasonable proposal is brought forth.
Invite them in- don't limit numbers if they embrace Americanization. You are welcome to come here from our special neighbor to the South if 1) you learn to speak English well within 2 years; 2) you pay taxes on earnings; 3) you will fight in the military; 4) you forgo welfare or other benefits claims; and 5) you agree not to invoke chain immigration.
Some of these run afoul of Supreme Court decisions, so some constitutional work is needed (first).
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
What has the law of large numbers got to do with this? Surely using patent count is akin to the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlight...
I don't necessarily disagree with any of your policy recommendations, but let's not pretend there is any sort of real scientific finding backing them up.
Apr '11
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Unless of course we want cheap and plentiful fruit. Perhaps as a carnivore you are unaffected by their cost, in which case I understand your feelings. But, speaking for the omnivores out there we like having cheap fruit.
Careful there buddy! All PhD's are not made equal even if they have the same words on them. Also as an American PhD (prospect) I say thanks for diluting my earning potential by over saturating the market with cheap foreign labor...I know I'm a hypocrite based on what I said above...well I don't care.
I think that there can be such a thing as too many PhDs actually, even in hard sciences, and engineering. A glut in the labor market will not be that great. If we can import cheap engineers we will stop making our own. Like we did with steal, and electronics. I guess we can then start making nothing but fine arts majors.
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
Rob Long:
Another reason we need to be thoughtful and strategic about immigration. Some of it is very, very good for all of us. ·
It's another a good reason to knock it off with the culture of abortion. Literally only God knows how many innovators and wealth creators we've lost through that process.
Oct '10
Re: Immigration Breeds Innovation
My approximation of some people's views on immigration: I fully support every legal immigrant that is permitted to come here each year. All ten of them.