Nottingham Centre for Research on
Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP)

GEP Research Paper 05/01

Acquisition FDI and the Export Intensity of Multinational Firms

Sourafel Girma, Richard Kneller and Mauro Pisu

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of acquisition FDI on exporting intensity in U.K manufacturing. A quasi-likelihood estimation method is used, and the empirical estimates point to the following conclusions: (i) UK firms with higher exporting intensity are more likely to be foreign takeover targets; (ii) US acquired firms increase their exporting intensity, consistent with the idea that acquisition FDI is used as a platform for serving the wider EU market (iii) Firms acquired by European multinationals significantly decrease their export-orientation, suggesting targeting of the domestic market post-takeover; (iv) The exporting propensity of non-US and non-EU multinationals exhibits no significant change.

Issued in January 2005.

This paper is available in PDF format .

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