The Performance of the Foreign-Owned Sector of UK Manufacturing: Some Evidence and Implications for UK Inward Investment Policy

This paper analyses the reported performance of foreign-owned manufacturing subsidiaries in the UK between 1994 and 1998. The paper is set in the context of uncertainty about the performance of some foreign-owned sectors of UK manufacturing and the implications of this performance for the beneficial spillover effects sought by policy-makers from foreign-owned capital. Japanese-owned subsidiaries are the focus of particular attention, with reported profits and tax liabilities significantly below those of subsidiaries from other national sources. The wider ramifications of this finding are analysed for the UK case, particularly in terms of the need to take into account the wider exchequer effects of inward investment in the general evaluation of the financial assistance provided to foreign firms.