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Adjusting Labor Demand: Multinational Versus National Firms: A Cross-European Analysis

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Author Info
Giorgio Barba Navaretti (University of Milan and Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano,)
Daniele Checchi (University of Milan and wTw,)
Alessandro Turrini (European Commission, CEPR, and Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano,)

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Abstract

This paper provides a cross-country perspective to the firm-level analysis of the relation between foreign ownership and labor demand in host countries. We estimate labor demand equations in eleven European countries using dynamic panel data techniques on samples that permit to distinguish the ownership status of firms. We find that the employment adjustment is significantly faster in Multinational's affiliates (MNEs) compared with national firms (NEs), irrespective of the country investigated. As for the wage elasticity of labor demand, MNEs show smaller elasticities and very little variation across countries. Cross-country correlations show that the relative size of wage elasticities in MNEs on that in NEs is positively related to country-level indexes of labor market regulation. We interpret the results as follows. MNEs tend to have a more rigid demand for total labor (possibly due to a different skill composition). However, being MNEs relatively "footloose," this difference tends to vanish as the rigidity of employment regulations rises. (JEL: F23, J23) Copyright (c) 2003 The European Economic Association.

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Article provided by MIT Press in its journal Journal of the European Economic Association.

Volume (Year): 1 (2003)
Issue (Month): 2-3 (04/05)
Pages: 708-719
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:jeurec:v:1:y:2003:i:2-3:p:708-719

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kozo Kiyota & Toshiyuki Matsuura, 2006. "Employment of MNEs in Japan: New Evidence," Discussion papers 06014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). [Downloadable!]
  2. Q Li & S Girma, . "Exporting, FDI, and Labour Demand Adjustment: Evidence from the UK Manufacturing," Working Papers 2006_18, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
  3. Donata Bessey & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2007. "Premature Apprenticeship Terminations: An Economic Analysis," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0002, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU). [Downloadable!]
  4. Buch, Claudia M. & Lipponer, Alexander, 2007. "Volatile multinationals? Evidence from the labor demand of German firms," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2007,22, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
  5. Buch, Claudia M. & Döpke, Jörg & Strotmann, Harald, 2006. "Does trade openness increase firm-level volatility?," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2006,40, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
  6. Jozef Konings & Alan Patrick Murphy, 2003. "Do Multinational Enterprises Relocate Employment to Low Wage Regions? Evidence from European Multinationals," LICOS Discussion Papers 13103, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  7. Jim Malley & Apostolis Philippopoulos & Ulrich Woitek, 2007. "To React or Not? Fiscal Policy, Volatility and Welfare in the EU-3," Working Papers 2007_02, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
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