High-Skilled Immigration
Scholars at GPS and UC San Diego are working on migration, particularly high-skill migration, mainly from Asia, which has become a significant force in the modern U.S. knowledge economy. Here are some of the highlights:
- High-skill migration from Asia now fuels major U.S. sectors like tech, higher education and healthcare
- Visa pathways such as student visas, OPT, and H-1B created a strong pipeline of researchers, engineers and medical professionals
- GPS research finds major benefits: stronger universities, faster innovation, higher productivity and relieved healthcare shortages
- Sending countries see gains too, including new skills, innovation networks and return migration that spreads expertise
The team’s work spans topics such as the ripple effects of China’s college expansion on American universities, patterns of internal migration in China and remittances to the Philippines, and much more.
Discover current research below.
Research
Current Scholarship
Trade Liberalization and Chinese Students in US Higher Education
Sept. 11, 2025: Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 107, Issue 5: 1291–1309
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China
Sept. 9, 2025: (Book) Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Coauthored by Ruixue Jia, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Effects of High-Skilled International Emigration on Origin Countries
May 22, 2025: Science, Vol. 388, No. 6749
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
The Productivity Consequences of Pollution-Induced Migration in China
April 2025: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol. 17, no. 2, (pp. 184–224)
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Abundance from Abroad: Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development
2025: Conditionally accepted at the American Economic Review
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Traditional Institutions in Modern Times: Dowries as Pensions When Sons Migrate
2025: Forthcoming in the Quarterly Journal of Economics
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Migration Policy and the Supply of Foreign Physicians: Evidence from the Conrad 30 Waiver Program
2025: Forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Native-Refugee Education Gaps
2025: Forthcoming American Economic Association, Papers and Proceedings 2025
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
The Impact of U.S.-China Tensions on U.S. Science: Evidence from the NIH Investigations
April 30, 2024: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 121(19)
Coauthored by Ruixue Jia, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from Visa Lotteries
October 2022: Journal of Political Economy, Volume 130, Number 10
Coauthored by Alexander Gelber, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Working Papers
The Ripple Effects of China's College Expansion on American Universities
Oct. 14, 2025: Draft
Coauthored by Ruixue Jia, Gaurav Khanna, both at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
From Asia, with Skills
October 2025
By Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
The IT Boom And Other Unintended Consequences of Chasing the American Dream
December 2024: Revise and resubmit at the American Economic Review
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy
Hometown Conflict and Refugees' Integration Efforts
March 1, 2024: Revise and resubmit at the Journal of European Economic Association
Coauthored by Gaurav Khanna, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy