IMMIGRATION, INNOVATION, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

This paper investigates the empirical effects of immigration on economic growth in a panel dataset of 30 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries for the period from 1991 to 2015. We find no effect of immigration generally on economic growth. However, a country’s foreign student share has a robust positive association with the country’s economic growth rate. The results, in conjunction with recent evidence of an immigration–innovation connection, suggest that the foreign student share works through new business startups.