Iulia Siedschlag

ICT and Regional Economic Dynamics : A Literature Review

The objective of this report is to review the relevant theoretical and empirical literature to provide a conceptual and methodological background for the analysis of the consequences of ICT use and globalisation on the regional economies in the European Union. We highlight the key aspects of ICT as a general purpose technology, discuss the economic impacts of ICT diffusion from macro and micro perspectives, and examine the spatial consequences of ICT diffusion. We focus on regional innovation systems and globalisation in order to propose an organizing framework for the analysis of the impact of ICT diffusion on regional development.

Globalisation and Ireland's Export Performance

This paper provides empirical evidence on Irelands export performance in the context of increased globalisation over the past ten years. Using insights from recent contributions to international trade and economic growth theories, we first examine patterns and changes of revealed comparative advantages for Irelands exports of goods and services. We then investigate whether Irish exports have specialised in fast growing industries and markets in world exports over the period. Third, we analyse determinants of export performance dynamics focusing on product and market structures and competitiveness effects. Finally, to put Irelands export performance into perspective, we compare this evidence with recent developments in other selected European small open economies.

International Investment and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Small Open Economies

Summary The global financial and economic crisis has severely affected foreign direct investment, particularly the cross-border mergers and acquisitions in advanced economies. This paper examines the effects of foreign mergers and acquisitions on labour productivity and employment growth over the period 2001-2009 in six small open economies in the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. We show that the severity of the crisis has been uneven across these six economies. Taken together, our estimates suggest that foreign direct investment had stronger effects on firm performance in services than in manufacturing.

Firm strategies in expanding and diversifying exports

This paper provides novel empirical evidence on the patterns and dynamics of exports by Irish firms over the past two decades from a highly detailed data set of export records at the firm‐product‐destination level. We identify patterns of export concentration and specialisation and how these evolved over time. Firms’ strategies for export growth along product and destination markets mixes are then examined and the contributions of intensive (average sales) and extensive (number of products or markets) margins to overall exports and to export growth are calculated. We find that most exporting firms are quite small, selling a few products to a small number of destinations while export values are dominated by a relatively small group of highly globalised large firms selling many products to many destinations. Continuing exporters frequently introduce new products, drop products and enter and exit markets. Export growth in the case of Irish‐owned exporters appears largely driven by the extensive margin of product and destination changes. However, the opposite pattern holds for foreign‐owned firms with growth mainly coming from the intensive margin.