Mobile Foreigners: Mortgage Lock-In and H-1B Demand
Fuente:
arXiv
Salvato in:
| Autori principali: | , , |
|---|---|
| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
|
| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | |
| Tags: |
Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
|
| _version_ | 1866910267275739136 |
|---|---|
| author | Altindag, Duha T. Nunley, John M. Seals, R. Alan |
| author_facet | Altindag, Duha T. Nunley, John M. Seals, R. Alan |
| contents | The 2022 rise in U.S. mortgage rates increased relocation costs for homeowners with low-rate mortgages. This cost varies across destinations because each draws workers from a different mix of labor markets. We build an in-migration mortgage-payment wedge from HMDA loans and pre-shock IRS migration networks. From 2017 to 2024, higher wedges reduce college-educated homeowner in-migration, leave renters unaffected, and raise H-1B sponsorship requests. The implied offset is 14 H-1B sponsorship requests per 100 deterred college-educated domestic in-migrants. We show that mortgage lock-in operates as a destination-side labor-market shock that shifts part of firms' adjustment toward employer-sponsored immigration. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_28904 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Mobile Foreigners: Mortgage Lock-In and H-1B Demand Altindag, Duha T. Nunley, John M. Seals, R. Alan General Economics Economics The 2022 rise in U.S. mortgage rates increased relocation costs for homeowners with low-rate mortgages. This cost varies across destinations because each draws workers from a different mix of labor markets. We build an in-migration mortgage-payment wedge from HMDA loans and pre-shock IRS migration networks. From 2017 to 2024, higher wedges reduce college-educated homeowner in-migration, leave renters unaffected, and raise H-1B sponsorship requests. The implied offset is 14 H-1B sponsorship requests per 100 deterred college-educated domestic in-migrants. We show that mortgage lock-in operates as a destination-side labor-market shock that shifts part of firms' adjustment toward employer-sponsored immigration. |
| title | Mobile Foreigners: Mortgage Lock-In and H-1B Demand |
| topic | General Economics Economics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.28904 |