Economics Today 18th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

تمرين 1

Immigration Rules for Sports Stars versus Scientists and Engineers
Nearly one of every five players participating in the National Basketball Association's professional teams is a foreign resident granted a special work permit called an O-1 or P-1 visa. U.S. immigration law classifies these men as athletes of "extraordinary ability." The rules do not require professional sports teams to try first to hire U.S. residents as players. The rules also set no upper limit on the numbers of O-1 or P1 visas that may be granted to foreign athletes who play professional basketball or other sports such as baseball or hockey. Foreign scientists and engineers must obtain a different type of work permit-an H1-B visa. A company can obtain this permit to hire a foreign scientist or engineer only after it has proved that no similarly qualified U.S. citizens could fill the firm's position. In addition, there is an overall cap on the number of these work permits that can be issued nationwide during a given year. Each year, this cap pre-vents firms from hiring as many foreign scientists and engineers as they desire to employ.
Economic Growth Implications of U.S. Immigration Rules
Professional sports stars provide entertainment services that are consumption goods used up immediately. Thus, granting professional sports teams the right to obtain O-1 and P-1 visas to hire foreign players possessing "extraordinary ability" to produce these entertainment services offers a negligible contribution to future U.S. economic growth. In contrast, many U.S. companies utilize the services of foreign scientists and engineers to produce capital goods, which in turn can be utilized to produce more consumption and capital goods in the future. Services provided by foreign scientists and engineers also contribute to techno-logical improvements that boost labor productivity. This productivity growth fuels additional economic growth. Consequently, promoting the immigration of foreign sports stars while hindering immigration of foreign scientists and engineers tends to reduce prospects for future U.S. economic growth.
Why do the efforts of foreign scientists and engineers con-tribute much more to labor productivity and economic growth than the exertions of foreign sports stars?