Work

Quotas and Quality: The Effect of H-1B Visa Restrictions on the Pool of Prospective Undergraduate Students from Abroad

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: In October 2003, the United States drastically reduced the number of H-1B visas available for foreign-born workers. Such restrictions could make U.S. colleges less attractive to foreign students considering an American education as a pathway to U.S. employment. Citizens from five countries are de facto exempt from the visa restrictions, however. Our difference-in-difference estimates show that restrictive immigration policy reduced SAT scores of international applicants by about 1.5% and decreased the number of SAT score reports sent by international students at the top quintile of the SAT score distribution. Restrictive immigration policy disproportionately discourages high-ability international students from pursuing education in the United States.

Source: The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00245

Authors: Takao Kato, Chad Sparber

Institutions: IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Aarhus University, Colgate University, Tokyo Center for Economic Research, The University of Tokyo, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Higher Education Governance and Development

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2107935461

FWCI: 22.77

Cites: 30

Cited by: 127

Related to: 10