Data and Code for: Immigration, Innovation, and Growth

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Stephen Terry, University of Michigan; Thomas Chaney, University of Southern California; Konrad Burchardi, Institute for International Economic Studies; Lisa Tarquinio, University of Western Ontario; Tarek Hassan, Boston University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Analysis 01/13/2025 11:58:AM
  Model 09/17/2025 02:37:PM
ReadMe.pdf application/pdf 329.6 KB 09/17/2025 10:28:AM

Project Citation: 

Terry, Stephen, Chaney, Thomas, Burchardi, Konrad, Tarquinio, Lisa, and Hassan, Tarek. Data and Code for: Immigration, Innovation, and Growth. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2026. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-02-05. https://doi.org/10.3886/E206261V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We propose a novel identification strategy to isolate exogenous immigration shocks across US counties, by interacting quasi-random variations in the composition of ancestry across counties with the contemporaneous inflow of migrants from different countries. We show a positive causal impact of immigration on local innovation and wages at the 5-year horizon. The positive dynamic impact of immigration on innovation and wages dominates the short-run negative impact of increased labor supply. A structural estimation of a model of endogenous growth and migrations suggests the increased immigration to the US since 1965 may have increased innovation and wages by 5%.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms migrations; innovation; patents; endogenous growth; dynamism
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
      O31 Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
      O40 Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage USA
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/1880 – 12/31/2010
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 1/1/2018 – 12/31/2023
Universe:  View help for Universe US counties from the late 1800's through 2010.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data; census/enumeration data; geographic information system (GIS) data; observational data; program source code

Methodology

Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation US Counties, 5-Year Windows
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit US Counties

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Published Versions

V1 [2026-02-05]

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