Why do we observe some LDCs objecting the prospect of a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), although they have been keen to liberalize investment in preferential agreements in recent years? In this paper, we analyse the issue of MAI implementation and assess the welfare consequences of...

A growing strand of literature highlights that skilled migration may favour growth-enhancing technology transfer, trade and foreign direct investments between the source and the host economies of migrants (network effects). We explore a specific channel through which the possible \"diaspora...

In this paper we test the firm-specific determinants of delocation to low-wage countries on the part of Italian firms. We collect data through a survey on 167 firms the in mechanics and textile industries. Our data show that in recent years there has been an upsurge in FDI activity by Italian...

This paper provides evidence on the links between productivity and internationalisation choices for a large sample of both large and small-medium sized Italian firms. By using detailed qualitative and quantitative information we first identify those firms engaged in international activities...

Using firm-level data for Italy, we address the employment consequences of international production offshoring. We concur with previous literature that offshoring firms’ individual employment performances are no worse than at matching non-offshoring firms. However, offshoring might impart...

Transferring low tech manufacturing jobs to cheap labour countries is often seen by part of the general public and policy makers as a step into the de-industrialisation of the European economies. However, several recent contributions have shown that the effects on home economies are rarely...

This paper uses micro data from the Indonesian Census of Manufacturing to analyze the causal relationship between foreign ownership and plant productivity. To control for the possible endogeneity of the FDI decision, a difference-in-differences approach is combined with propensity score...

During the nineties, Europe became a major recipient of FDIs but Italian regions have been largely excluded from this process. Was it due to their characteristics, or were Italian regions ‘doomed’ by a negative country effect? In this paper we address this issue by estimating the...

We examine the determinants of multinational firms’ location choices in Europe by estimating a nested logit model on a data-set of 5,761 foreign subsidiaries established in 55 regions in 8 EU countries over the period 1991-1999. We find that firms perceive regions across different countries as...