This paper investigates whether knowledge accumulating activities, such as exporting, R&D, or worker training, can enhance plants' productivity. To this end we use plant level panel data for Irish manufacturing. Our results importantly indicate that productivity enhancing effects of these...

This paper aims to identify the obstacles to attracting "quality" foreign direct investment (FDI) in middle-skill manufacturing activities, so as to inform an action-agenda for policies that will help developing and emerging market economies to link into global supply chains while building...

In this paper we use plant level data on the start-up size of new plant entries and detailed information on the grants received by such plants in order to investigate whether grant receipt encourages plants to start-up with more employment than without support. The data relate to manufacturing...

In this paper we analyse the impact of governmental grant provision on plant performance. To this end we utilise rich information derived from three data sources for the manufacturing sector in Ireland, where grant provision has been an important part of the industrial policy. We use a matching...

This paper investigates the productivity effects of inward and outward foreign direct investment using industry and country level data for 17 OECD countries over the period 1973 to 2001. Controlling for national and international knowledge spillovers we argue that effects of FDI work through...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of "outsourcing" using establishment level data for UK manufacturing industries. We analyse an establishment's decision to outsource and the subsequent effects of outsourcing on the establishment's productivity. We compare outsourcing in domestic with...