Two routes by which foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) may transfer technology - direct R&D undertaken in Ireland or through the transfer of the fruits of R&D work undertaken by the parent firm - are examined. Direct R&D undertaken by MNEs in Ireland now accounts for two-thirds of all R&D...

This paper is an assessment of the approach suggested by Gary Fields for measuring inequality in an economy with high-income sector enlargement. This approach describes the change in inequality according to a U-pattern, instead of the inverted U-pattern described by other indices. We argue that...

In this paper we investigate the effect of increased foreign competition on home employment. The interaction of both product and labour market responses to foreign competition will be of key importance to understanding the impact of foreign competition on domestic employment. In a simple...

This paper examines how the introduction of a direct trade alternative for buyers and sellers affects competition among middlemen. Direct trade makes the middlemen's supply and demand functions depend on both bid and ask prices, a feature we term interdependence. A simple model is used to...

This paper analyses the concept of linkages and studies the development and the determinants of inter-firm linkages between electronics firms in Ireland and domestic sub-suppliers using firm level data for 1982 to 1995. We discuss the concept of inter-firm linkages and the effects of linkages....

The impact on demand for a gambling product of the introduction of a competing product is a topical issue in Britain, Ireland and elsewhere. We consider empirically the demand for Lotto itself and for fixed-odds betting on Lotto draw. The evidence suggests that these products are complements....

Economic theory proposes that consumers are primarily concerned with increasing the mean and reducing the variance of the payoff when choosing between products the return to which is uncertain. This approach fails to explain the popularity of Lotto and other forms of gambling. The highly skewed...

This paper gives an account of the R/S statistic and its known properties. It assesses the adequacy of the asymptotic distribution of R/S in the case of samples of small and moderate size, and suggests an improved approximation based on the beta distribution. The results indicate that the...

Regional goals have always played an important part in Irish industrial policy. This paper examines the employment performance of two sub-regions (designated and non-designated areas) as defined by industrial policy. By employing the job flow methodology as pioneered by Davis and Haltiwanger...

Using a variant of shift-share analysis, this paper examines how the changing commodity structure and market destination pattern of Irish exports has influenced the share of Irish exports in world exports over the 1972-90 period. Results show that up until 1985 the success of Irish exporters in...