Multinational Firms and Job Tasks

39 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2010

See all articles by Katariina Hakkala

Katariina Hakkala

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Fredrik Heyman

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Fredrik Sjöholm

Lund University School of Economics and Management; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Date Written: June 1, 2008

Abstract

We analyze the impact of multinational and foreign ownership on the demand for job tasks and educational skills. By using Swedish matched employer-employee data, we find that both foreign and domestic multinational firms have high shares of non-routine tasks and tasks requiring personal interaction. Moreover, acquisitions of local firms by multinationals increase the relative demand for non-routine and interactive job tasks in the targeted firms. The differences in the demand for job tasks are only partly explained by firm characteristics. Dividing employees by education instead of job tasks does not result in the same effects on relative labor demand, which shows that task measures do indeed capture a new labor market aspect.

Keywords: FDI, Cross-Border Acquisitions, Multinational Enterprises, Foreign Ownership, Job Tasks, Labor Demand, Skill Groups

JEL Classification: J23, F16, F21, F23

Suggested Citation

Hakkala, Katariina and Heyman, Fredrik and Sjöholm, Fredrik, Multinational Firms and Job Tasks (June 1, 2008). IFN Working Paper No. 781, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1689561 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1689561

Katariina Hakkala

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

Grevgatan 34, 2nd floor
S-114 85 Stockholm, SE-102 15
Sweden

Fredrik Heyman

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

Box 55665
Grevgatan 34, 2nd floor
Stockholm, SE-102 15
Sweden

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.ifn.se/eng/people/research-faculty/fredrikh_1

Fredrik Sjöholm (Contact Author)

Lund University School of Economics and Management ( email )

P.O Box 7080
Lund
Sweden

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

Box 55665
Grevgatan 34, 2nd floor
Stockholm, SE-102 15
Sweden

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