Information technology (IT) professionals play an important role in firms' IT investments,
innovation, and entrepreneurship, contributing to significant economic growth in the U.S. The
use of temporary work visas and related immigration policies has attracted a significant
controversy and policy debates in the U.S. On the one hand, foreign IT professionals
complement domestic IT professionals by facilitating innovation and entrepreneurship. On
the other hand, the foreign IT professionals substitute the domestic counterparts by
intensifying labor market competition. In this study, we focus on an extension in the Optional
Practical Training (OPT) program for STEM graduates from U.S. institutions. Specifically, we
explore the effects of the OPT extension on the number and wage of domestic workers in
STEM occupations and how these effects differ between IT and non-IT STEM occupations.
Our results demonstrate that an increase in the supply of foreign IT professionals from the
OPT extension boosts the employment of domestic IT professionals. This study contributes
to the information systems, labor economics, and public policy literature by quantifying the
impacts of a policy change on the employment of IT professionals and provides rich
implications for policymakers.