Foreign Direct Investment in Greece: Productivity and Spillover Effects

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects on productivity from foreign direct investment in the Greek economy. Specifically we investigate both direct productivity effects as well as effects on productivity through technological spillovers. By utilizing an unbalanced firm level dataset of 16780 firms for the years 2002-2006 we find some interesting results. Namely, majority-held foreign firms are more productive than domestic multinational enterprises, while minority-held foreign firms are not. Significant spillover effects exist but they are only evident in our sample that consists of small firms (with less than 50 employees). Moreover, the spillover effects are significant for firms of intermediate productivity levels.

Keywords: FDI, Greece, technological spillovers

JEL Classification: F23, L22