Do Immigrants Enhance International Trade in Services? The Case of US Tourism Services Exports

That immigrants affect trade in goods between their home and host countries is well established in the literature. Little evidence exists, however, as to whether immigrants also affect trade in services. Using data on international tourist arrivals from 86 countries to the United States during the years 1995-2004, we provide the first empirical evidence on the effect of immigrants on exports of tourism services. Our results suggest that immigrants significantly enhance exports of tourism services (as measured by the number of tourist arrivals in the US from different home countries).