Chesley Bonestell, “The Exploration of Mars” (1953), oil on board, 143/8 x 28 inches, gift of William Estler, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Reproduced courtesy of Bonestell LLC.

Productivity of Immigrant Innovators

February 9, 2017

 

2/9/17 – Among engineering and technology companies started in the United States between 1995 and 2005, a quarter were headed by immigrants, and immigrants founded roughly a third of firms in the semiconductor sector, according to a survey led by a technology entrepreneur and described in Issues. Now underscoring immigrants’ innovative impact, new research reveals that industries and regions with more foreign-born inventors produce more patents and that this bump spurs economic growth.