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Multinationals and US productivity leadership: evidence from Great Britain

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  • Criscuolo, Chiara
  • Martin, Ralf

Abstract

We study the productivity of US owned plants in the UK. Using a new dataset that identifies foreign and domestic MNEs, we find that UK MNEs are less productive than US affiliates, but as productive as non US foreign affiliates. We investigate the source of the US and MNE advantage. We find evidence confirming that the MNE advantage is driven by sharing superior firm level assets across plants and by cherry picking the better plants in a country. The additional superiority of US firms seems entirely driven by their particular ability to takeover the best British plants. Thirdly, the study features a novel approach to TFP calculation.

Suggested Citation

  • Criscuolo, Chiara & Martin, Ralf, 2005. "Multinationals and US productivity leadership: evidence from Great Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19914, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:19914
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinational Firms; Productivity; Foreign Ownership; US leadership; Double Fixed- Effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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