"Essential" Migrants: Evidence from the 2020 H-2B Visa Lottery

Parag Mahajan
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Parag Mahajan: University of Delaware

No 25-414, Upjohn Working Papers from W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Abstract: I study how access to foreign-born workers impacts firms and local economics in times of acute crisis. The 2020 H-2B visa lottery randomly gave some U.S. firms the chance to hire low-wage, migrant workers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using administrative data across three government agencies, I find that access to H-2B workers led to decreased business closures, increased revenues, increased payroll, and increased employment in 2020. I also find suggestive evidence that these effects spilled over to non-participant firms within the same county.

Keywords: migrant workers; H-2B visa; COVID-19 pandemic; firm dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J23 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-04
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