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Multinational Enterprises and Spillovers

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Globalisation and Productivity Growth

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Abstract

It has been estimated that the British government provided grants worth £50.75 million to Motorola to locate a production facility in Scotland in 1991, providing around 3000 jobs. Also, Siemens received around £50 million in order to attract it to build a plant employing 1000 workers in the North East of England in 1996.1 It seems reasonable to ask how such active policy can be justified. Apart from regional concerns in particular about direct job creation, the argument frequently centres around the possibility that foreign multinationals bring with them new technologies which may spill over to the local economy, benefiting not only the region but the economy as a whole. This argument has become particularly important given policy makers’ concerns that the United Kingdom is lagging behind its European and North American partners in terms of technology and productivity (e.g. DTI, 2001). Hence, an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) associated with an inflow of new knowledge and technologies is seen as particularly advantageous.

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Authors
  1. Holger Görg
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  2. Alexander Hijzen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, University of Nottingham, UK

    Holger Görg , David Greenaway  & Richard Kneller ,  & 

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© 2005 Holger Görg and Alexander Hijzen

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Görg, H., Hijzen, A. (2005). Multinational Enterprises and Spillovers. In: Görg, H., Greenaway, D., Kneller, R. (eds) Globalisation and Productivity Growth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523227_6

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