The economic importance of having a globally competitive education and research system.
SAN FRANCISCO – Foreign-born entrepreneurs were behind one in four U.S. technology startups over the past decade, according to a study to be published Thursday.
A team of researchers at Duke University estimated that 25 percent of technology and engineering companies started from 1995 to 2005 had at least one senior executive — a founder, chief executive, president or chief technology officer — born outside the United States.
Immigrant entrepreneurs’ companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales in 2005, according to the survey.
Their contributions to corporate coffers, employment and U.S. competitiveness in the global technology sector offer a counterpoint to the recent political debate over immigration and the economy, which largely centers on unskilled, illegal workers in low-wage jobs.
“It’s one thing if your gardener gets deported,” said the project’s Delhi-born lead researcher, Vivek Wadhwa. “But if these entrepreneurs leave, we’re really denting our intellectual property creation.