What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to establish H-1B visa intensity as a quantifiable measure of a firm's investment in human capital and its effect on innovation and performance.

June 3, 2026

Snapshots of Human Capital as an Investment Factor: Using H-1B Visa Data as a Proxy for Firm Innovation and Performance

Key Points

This research aims to establish H-1B visa intensity as a quantifiable measure of a firm's investment in human capital and its effect on innovation and performance.
Analyzed H-1B visa application data as a proxy for human capital investment.
Correlated visa intensity with measures of firm innovation and financial performance.
Assessed the relationship between H-1B visa data and market returns.
H-1B visa intensity shows a positive correlation with firm innovation, implying higher levels of creativity.
Selected financial performance measures improve with increased human capital investment from H-1B visas.
Higher market returns are associated with firms investing in H-1B visa employees.

Abstract

Quickly apply original, key PMR-published papers with Snapshots—a short article companion that distills PMR research into compressed, digestible takeaways, so you can put the paper’s core ideas to work in your investment process—fast. This Snapshot article is based on research arguing that H-1B visa intensity is a uniquely quantifiable proxy for firm investment in human capital, showing positive correlation with firm innovation, selected financial performance measures, and higher market returns.

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Cite This Study

Derived from original PMR research written by Mohamed Rochdi Keffala and Achaf Ben Abdallah using AI and an editor (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a1fc550dee9eb8c0dce6bbc https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3905/snp.2026.jesg.004