Abstract:
This paper analyzes the difference between foreign and domestic ownership of firms with respect to productivity. The analysis is performed using a panel of firm data from Statis- tics Sweden, covering the entire manufacturing sector in the 1990:s. First we show that, other things equal, foreign-owned firms have higher labor productivity as well as total factor productivity than domestic firms. We also find that Swedish multinational firms are as productive as foreign-owned firms. Then we show that the rate of growth in productivity is higher in foreign-owned firms. We find no evidence for reverse causality.