High-skilled immigration enhances regional entrepreneurship

What is it about?

Policy and economic arguments often depend on assumptions of how immigrants shape their destination regions and the extent to which they benefit or compete with natives. This is particularly true for high-skilled immigrants, who bring knowledge but also take some of the highest-paid positions. We present evidence that high-skilled immigrants significantly contribute to local entrepreneurial growth, even when they are not directly starting companies. The presence of co-nationals in local communities strengthens this effect, highlighting the role of knowledge transfer. By sharing knowledge and ideas within their communities, high-skilled immigrants actively shape regional entrepreneurship.

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Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

Why is it important?

These results suggest an immigration policy promoting high-skilled immigration could play an important role in shaping U.S. regional economic dynamism and growth. We also present some determinants driving the size of these effects.