IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/izaels/v5y2016i1d10.1186_s40174-016-0058-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign ownership and its effects on employment and wages: the case of Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Runar Brännlund

    (Umeå University)

  • Jonas Nordström

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Jesper Stage

    (Luleå University of Technology)

  • Dick Svedin

    (Mid Sweden University)

Abstract

In this paper, we study how foreign ownership of Swedish companies affects employment and wages. To study these effects, we specify a model based on the assumption that the Swedish labour market can be described as one where trade unions and employers bargain over employment and wages. Our hypothesis is that bargaining power is affected by institutional settings and the ownership of the firm. To test our hypothesis, we used a panel data set of 242 large Swedish manufacturing firms over the period 1980–2005. The results indicate no significant impact of foreign ownership on employment or wages in Sweden. Jel codes: J30, J50, D21, C33

Suggested Citation

  • Runar Brännlund & Jonas Nordström & Jesper Stage & Dick Svedin, 2016. "Foreign ownership and its effects on employment and wages: the case of Sweden," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaels:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40174-016-0058-1
    DOI: 10.1186/s40174-016-0058-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40174-016-0058-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40174-016-0058-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert E. Lipsey, 1994. "Foreign-Owned Firms and U.S. Wages," NBER Working Papers 4927, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Zadia M. Feliciano & Robert E. Lipsey, 1999. "Foreign Ownership and Wages in the United States, 1987 - 1992," NBER Working Papers 6923, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Sourafel Girma & David Greenaway & Katharine Wakelin, 2013. "Who Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in the UK?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(5), pages 560-574, November.
    4. Zhao, Laixun, 1995. "Cross-hauling direct foreign investment and unionized oligopoly," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 1237-1253, June.
    5. Huizinga, Harry, 1990. "Unions, taxes and the structure of multinational enterprises," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 73-75, September.
    6. Brian Aitken & Ann Harrison & Robert E. Lipsey, 2022. "Wages and foreign ownership A comparative study of Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 4, pages 61-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Martins, Pedro S., 2004. "Do Foreign Firms Really Pay Higher Wages? Evidence from Different Estimators," IZA Discussion Papers 1388, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Martins, Pedro S. & Esteves, Luiz A., 2008. "Foreign Ownership, Employment and Wages in Brazil: Evidence from Acquisitions, Divestments and Job Movers," IZA Discussion Papers 3542, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. McDonald, Ian M & Solow, Robert M, 1981. "Wage Bargaining and Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 896-908, December.
    10. Robin Naylor & Michele Santoni, 2003. "Foreign direct investment and wage bargaining," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18.
    11. Hausman, Jerry A., 1983. "Specification and estimation of simultaneous equation models," Handbook of Econometrics, in: Z. Griliches† & M. D. Intriligator (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 391-448, Elsevier.
    12. Almeida, Rita, 2007. "The labor market effects of foreign owned firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 75-96, May.
    13. Manning, Alan, 1987. "An Integration of Trade Union Models in a Sequential Bargaining Framework," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(385), pages 121-139, March.
    14. Hatzius, Jan, 2000. "Foreign direct investment and factor demand elasticities," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 117-143, January.
    15. Rachel Griffith & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Characteristics of Foreign-Owned Firms in British Manufacturing," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 147-180, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Roxana Radulescu & Martin Robson, 2008. "Trade Unions, Wage Bargaining Coordination, and Foreign Direct Investment," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(4), pages 661-678, December.
    17. Doiron, Denise J, 1992. "Bargaining Power and Wage-Employment Contracts in a Unionized Industry," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 33(3), pages 583-606, August.
    18. Vannetelbosch, Vincent J., 1996. "Testing between alternative wage-employment bargaining models using Belgian aggregate data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 43-64, August.
    19. Dumont, Michel & Rayp, Glenn & Willemé, Peter, 2012. "The bargaining position of low-skilled and high-skilled workers in a globalising world," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 312-319.
    20. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Daniele Checchi & Alessandro Turrini, 2003. "Adjusting Labor Demand: Multinational Versus National Firms: A Cross-European Analysis," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 708-719, 04/05.
    21. Kristiina Huttunen, 2007. "The Effect of Foreign Acquisition on Employment and Wages: Evidence from Finnish Establishments," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 497-509, August.
    22. Alogoskoufis, George & Manning, Alan, 1991. "Tests of alternative wage employment bargaining models with an application to the UK aggregate labour market," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 23-37, January.
    23. Martin J. Conyon & Sourafel Girma & Steve Thompson & Peter W. Wright, 2002. "The productivity and wage effects of foreign acquisition in the United Kingdom," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 85-102, March.
    24. repec:bla:scotjp:v:48:y:2001:i:2:p:119-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Bughin, Jacques & Vannini, Stefano, 1995. "Strategic direct investment under unionized oligopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 127-145, March.
    26. Edward E. Leamer, 1988. "Measures of Openness," NBER Chapters, in: Trade Policy Issues and Empirical Analysis, pages 145-204, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Arellano, Manuel, 2003. "Panel Data Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199245291.
    28. Zhao, Laixun, 1998. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Wages and Employment," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(2), pages 284-301, April.
    29. Bandick, Roger & Karpaty, Patrik, 2011. "Employment effects of foreign acquisition," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 211-224, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paulina Broniatowska & Paweł Strawiński, 2021. "Foreign- and domestic firm ownership and its impact on wages. Evidence from Poland," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(4), pages 445-466, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brännlund, Runar & Nordström, Jonas & Svedin, Dick, 2004. "Foreign ownership and effects on employment and wages: The case of Sweden," Umeå Economic Studies 638, Umeå University, Department of Economics, revised 01 Nov 2004.
    2. Martyn Andrews, & Lutz Bellmann, & Thorsten Schank, & Richard Upward, 2007. "The takeover and selection effects of foreign ownership in Germany: an analysis using linked worker-firm data," Discussion Papers 07/08, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    3. Carsten Eckel & Hartmut Egger, 2017. "The Dilemma of Labor Unions: Local Objectives vs Global Bargaining," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 534-566, August.
    4. Margarita Carvalho & João Cerejeira, 2019. "Mergers and Acquisitions and wage effects in the Portuguese banking sector," NIPE Working Papers 07/2019, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    5. Gaston, N., 2000. "Unions and the Decentralisation of Collective Bargaining in a Globalising World," ISER Discussion Paper 0495, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    6. Minsik Choi, 2001. "Threat Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Labor Union Wage Premium," Working Papers wp27, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    7. Heyman, Fredrik & Sjoholm, Fredrik & Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson, 2007. "Is there really a foreign ownership wage premium? Evidence from matched employer-employee data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 355-376, November.
    8. Galina Hale & Mingzhi Xu, 2016. "FDI effects on the labor market of host countries," Working Paper Series 2016-25, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    9. Chen, Zhihong & Ge, Ying & Lai, Huiwen, 2011. "Foreign Direct Investment and Wage Inequality: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1322-1332, August.
    10. Jeon, Yongsik & Kwon, Chul-Woo, 2018. "The offshoring threat and wage negotiations: Theory and evidence," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 19-29.
    11. Hartmut Egger & Udo Kreickemeier, 2017. "Why Foreign Ownership May be Good for You," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade and Labor Markets Welfare, Inequality and Unemployment, chapter 13, pages 381-421, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Siedschlag Iulia & Kaitila Ville & McQuinn John & Zhang Xiaoheng, 2014. "International Investment and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Small Open Economies," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(6), pages 662-687, December.
    13. Peter Egger & Marko Koethenbuerger, 2016. "Hosting multinationals: Economic and fiscal implications," Aussenwirtschaft, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economics Research, vol. 67(01), pages 45-69, February.
    14. Arijit Mukherjee, 2008. "Unionised Labour Market and Strategic Production Decision of a Multinational," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(532), pages 1621-1639, October.
    15. Saglam, Bahar Bayraktar & Sayek, Selin, 2011. "MNEs and wages: The role of productivity spillovers and imperfect labor markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 2736-2742.
    16. Christian Bellak, 2004. "How Domestic and Foreign Firms Differ and Why Does it Matter?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 483-514, September.
    17. Cooray, Arusha & Tamazian, Artur & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2014. "What drives FDI policy liberalization? An empirical investigation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 179-189.
    18. John S. Earle & Álmos Telegdy, 2007. "Ownership and Wages: Estimating Public-Private and Foreign-Domestic Differentials using LEED from Hungary, 1986-2003," NBER Working Papers 12997, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Almeida, Rita, 2007. "The labor market effects of foreign owned firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 75-96, May.
    20. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01cc08hf62w is not listed on IDEAS
    21. John P. Weche Geluebcke, 2012. "Foreign and Domestic Takeovers in Germany: First Comparative Evidence on the Post-acquisition Target Performance using new Data," Working Paper Series in Economics 249, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:izaels:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40174-016-0058-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.