Low-Wage Jobs, Foreign-Born Workers, and Firm Performance

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (), Esther Arenas-Arroyo (), Parag Mahajan and Bernhard Schmidpeter ()
Additional contact information
Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes: University of California, Merced
Esther Arenas-Arroyo: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Bernhard Schmidpeter: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Esther Arenas-Arroyo

No 16438, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: How do migrant workers impact firm performance? We exploit an unexpected change in firms’ likelihood of securing low-wage workers through the U.S. H-2B visa program to address this question. Using comprehensive administrative data, we find that access to H-2B workers raises firms’ annual revenues and survival likelihood without crowding out other forms of employment. We do not find evidence of negative spillover effects on competitor firms. Our results support the notion that guest worker programs can mitigate labor shortages while limiting harm to incumbent workers.

Keywords: firm dynamics; employment; migrants; guest workers; H-2B visa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J23 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2023-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ger, nep-hrm, nep-int, nep-lma and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Low-Wage Jobs, Foreign-Born Workers, and Firm Performance (2024)
Working Paper: Low-wage jobs, foreign-born workers, and firm performance (2023)
Working Paper: Low-wage jobs, foreign-born workers, and firm performance (2023)
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