IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/14962.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What Does Global Expansion of Higher Education Mean for the US?

Author

Listed:
  • Richard B. Freeman

Abstract

This study documents the rapid spread of higher education around the world and the consequent reduced share of the US in the world's university students and graduates. It shows that the proportion of young persons who go to college has risen in many advanced countries to exceed that in the US while human capital leapfrogging in the huge populous developing countries has produced massive increases in their university educated work forces. One result of the expansion of higher education overseas is that the US has come to rely extensively on the immigration of highly educated persons to maintain a lead position in science and technology. International students make up roughly half of university graduate immigrants to the US, which makes policies toward those students a key determinant in the country's success in attracting immigrant talent.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard B. Freeman, 2009. "What Does Global Expansion of Higher Education Mean for the US?," NBER Working Papers 14962, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14962
    Note: LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14962.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank Field, 1997. "The Welfare Debate," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Peter Askonas & Stephen F. Frowen (ed.), Welfare and Values, chapter 15, pages 165-175, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Romina Boarini & Hubert Strauss, 2007. "The Private Internal Rates of Return to Tertiary Education: New Estimates for 21 OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 591, OECD Publishing.
    3. Matthias Parey & Fabian Waldinger, 2011. "Studying Abroad and the Effect on International Labour Market Mobility: Evidence from the Introduction of ERASMUS," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 194-222, March.
    4. Axel Dreher & Panu Poutvaara, 2005. "Student Flows and Migration: An Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 1490, CESifo.
    5. Richard B. Freeman, 1975. "Overinvestment in College Training?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 10(3), pages 287-311.
    6. Axel Dreher & Panu Poutvaara, 2005. "Student Flows and Migration: An Empirical Analysis�," TWI Research Paper Series 8, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universität Konstanz.
    7. Richard B. Freeman, 2006. "Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten US Economic Leadership?," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 6, pages 123-158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Freeman, Richard B. & Topel, Robert H. & Swedenborg, Birgitta (ed.), 1997. "The Welfare State in Transition," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261782, August.
    9. Per-Anders Edin & Robert Topel, 1997. "Wage Policy and Restructuring: The Swedish Labor Market since 1960," NBER Chapters, in: The Welfare State in Transition: Reforming the Swedish Model, pages 155-202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Nahid Aslanbeigui & Veronica Montecinos, 1998. "Foreign Students in U.S. Doctoral Programs," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 171-182, Summer.
    11. Richard B. Freeman & Emily Jin & Chia-Yu Shen, 2004. "Where Do New US-Trained Science-Engineering PhDs come from?," NBER Working Papers 10554, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Editors The, 2007. "From the Editors," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-5, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2015. "Does Immigration Affect Whether US Natives Major in Science and Engineering?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 79-108.
    2. Mobarak, Ahmed & Maskus, Keith & Stuen, Eric T., 2010. "Skilled Immigration and Innovation: Evidence from Enrollment Fluctuations in U.S. Doctoral Programs," CEPR Discussion Papers 7709, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Li, Shi & Whalley, John & Xing, Chunbing, 2014. "China's higher education expansion and unemployment of college graduates," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 567-582.
    4. John G. Fernald & Charles I. Jones, 2014. "The Future of US Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 44-49, May.
    5. Takao Kato & Chad Sparber, 2013. "Quotas and Quality: The Effect of H-1B Visa Restrictions on the Pool of Prospective Undergraduate Students from Abroad," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 109-126, March.
    6. Jeffrey Grogger & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "Attracting Talent: Location Choices of Foreign-Born PhDs in the US," NBER Working Papers 18780, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Xing, Chunbing & Yang, Peng & Li, Zhilong, 2018. "The medium-run effect of China's higher education expansion on the unemployment of college graduates," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 181-193.
    8. Wright, Nicholas A., 2021. "Need-based financing policies, college decision-making, and labor market behavior: Evidence from Jamaica," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Andreas Reinstaller & Isabel Stadler & Fabian Unterlass, 2012. "Die Arbeitskräftemobilität in der Hochschulforschung in der EU und in Österreich," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 85(2), pages 105-119, February.
    10. Patrick Gaule & Mario Piacentini, 2015. "Immigration and Innovation: Chinese Graduate Students in U.S. Universities," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp529, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    11. Jeffrey Grogger & Gordon H. Hanson, 2015. "Attracting Talent: Location Choices of Foreign-Born PhDs in the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 5-38.
    12. John Bound & Gaurav Khanna & Nicolas Morales, 2017. "Understanding the Economic Impact of the H-1B Program on the United States," NBER Chapters, in: High-Skilled Migration to the United States and Its Economic Consequences, pages 109-175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Rachel Griffith & Helen Miller, 2011. "Innovation in China: the rise of Chinese inventors in the production of knowledge," IFS Working Papers W11/15, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    14. John Bound & Gaurav Khanna & Nicolas Morales, 2017. "Understanding the Economic Impact of the H-1B Program on the U.S," NBER Working Papers 23153, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Griffith, Rachel & Abramovsky, Laura & Miller, Helen, 2012. "Offshoring high-skilled jobs: EU multinationals and domestic employment of inventors," CEPR Discussion Papers 8837, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard B. Freeman, 2010. "What Does Global Expansion of Higher Education Mean for the United States?," NBER Chapters, in: American Universities in a Global Market, pages 373-404, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Beine, Michel & Noël, Romain & Ragot, Lionel, 2014. "Determinants of the international mobility of students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 40-54.
    3. Richard B. Freeman, 2015. "Immigration, International Collaboration, and Innovation: Science and Technology Policy in the Global Economy," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 153-175.
    4. Richard Freeman, 2010. "Globalization of scientific and engineering talent: international mobility of students, workers, and ideas and the world economy," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 393-406.
    5. Ferrall, Christopher & Natalia, Mishagina, 2009. "Should I Stay or Should I Go…North? First Job Location of U.S. Trained Doctorates 1957-2005," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-33, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Jun 2009.
    6. Michel Beine & Marco Delogu & Lionel Ragot, 2017. "The Role of Fees in Foreign Education: Evidence From Italy and the United Kingdom," Working Papers 2017-04, CEPII research center.
    7. Matthias Parey & Fabian Waldinger, 2011. "Studying Abroad and the Effect on International Labour Market Mobility: Evidence from the Introduction of ERASMUS," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 194-222, March.
    8. Gonzales-Eiras, Martín & Niepelt, Dirk, 2004. "Sustaining Social Security," Seminar Papers 731, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    9. Katrin Oesingmann, 2016. "ifo Migrationsmonitor: Die Zuwanderung von ausländischen Studierenden nach Deutschland – ein wichtiger Faktor für die Gewinnung von Fachkräften," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(20), pages 51-55, October.
    10. Ian Dew-Becker & Robert J. Gordon, 2005. "Where Did Productivity Growth Go? Inflation Dynamics and the Distribution of Income," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 36(2), pages 67-150.
    11. Davis, Steven J. & Henrekson, Magnus, 2005. "Wage-setting institutions as industrial policy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 345-377, June.
    12. Henrekson, Magnus & Dreber, Anna, 2004. "Female Career Success: Institutions, Path Dependence and Psychology," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 574, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 25 Jan 2007.
    13. Pontus Braunerhjelm & Magnus Henrekson, 2013. "Entrepreneurship, institutions, and economic dynamism: lessons from a comparison of the United States and Sweden," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(1), pages 107-130, February.
    14. Michel Beine & Marco Delogu & Lionel Ragot, 2020. "The role of fees in foreign education: evidence from Italy [Determinants of international student migration]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 571-600.
    15. Govert E. Bijwaard & Qi Wang, 2016. "Return Migration of Foreign Students," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(1), pages 31-54, February.
    16. Robert E. Lipsey, 2009. "Measuring International Trade in Services," NBER Chapters, in: International Trade in Services and Intangibles in the Era of Globalization, pages 27-70, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Scharpf, Fritz Wilhelm, 2009. "Legitimacy in the multilevel European polity," MPIfG Working Paper 09/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    18. Konrad, Kai A., 2001. "Privacy and time-consistent optimal labor income taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 503-519, March.
    19. Hibbs, Douglas A, Jr & Locking, Hakan, 2000. "Wage Dispersion and Productive Efficiency: Evidence for Sweden," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(4), pages 755-782, October.
    20. Henseler Miriam & Plesch Joachim, 2009. "How Can Scholarship Institutions Foster the Return of Foreign Students?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 229(4), pages 382-409, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14962. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.