A great deal of public policy is harnessed to raising productivity growth. Although it is believed that the process is intimately linked to globalization, the precise links are less well known. This volume offers a comprehensive overview of links between international trade, foreign direct...

We investigate how multinational companies can foster economic development of the host country at the micro level. Traditionally the empirical literature measuring spillovers to the host economy arising from foreign direct investment has focused on productivity spillovers, i.e., technological...

This study uses firm-level data on a large sample of European manufacturing firms to investigate the links between opening up foreign affiliates and firms' productivity. The analysis is guided by recent theoretical models of international trade with firm heterogeneity. The paper finds that while...

This paper presents an empirical analysis on the extent to which a country’s welfare spending influences foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions, particularly as they relate to relocations. We argue, and subsequently empirically test, that higher welfare spending by governments attracts...

This paper investigates the productivity effects of inward and outward foreign direct investment using industry and country level data for 17 OECD countries. The paper relates to a large recent literature on productivity spillovers from inward FDI, however, we also consider the relationship...

We investigate the impact of international outsourcing on productivity using plant level data for Irish manufacturing. Specifically, we distinguish the effect of outsourcing of materials from services inputs. Moreover, we examine whether the impact on productivity is different for plants being...

We examine whether multinational companies are more footloose than their domestic counterparts in the host country, using data for the Irish manufacturing sector. First, we investigate whether plant survival rates differ between multinationals and indigenous plants. Second, we analyse whether...

In recent years the British government has spent substantial sums in order to attract foreign multiinationals to the UK. Amongst other things this has been motivated by the possibility that foreign multinationals bring with them new technologies which may "spill over" to the economy. The present...

In this paper we analyse productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment using firm level panel data UK manufacturing industries from 1992 to 1999. We investigate spillovers through horizontal, backward and forward linkages, distinguish spillovers from export oriented vs domestic market...

Belgium is associated with high-quality chocolate products and Belgian companies play an important role in cocoa processing. However, in historical perspective the global success and reputation of Belgian chocolate is a relatively recent phenomenon. Especially since the 1980s exports of "Belgian...