We use comparable micro level panel data for 14 countries and a set of identically specified empirical models to investigate the relationship between exports and productivity. Our overall results are in line with the big picture that is by now familiar from the literature: Exporters are more...

Aggregate exports are not very responsive to real exchange rates, though they re- spond strongly to trade liberalizations, a fact sometimes referred to as the International Elasticity Puzzle. We use micro data on firms and exports for Ireland to dissect the puzzle. Our identification strategy...

This paper examines whether local firms benefit from the presence of foreign-owned firms in three Irish market-services sectors between 2001 and 2007. I investigate whether domestic firms differ in their ability to benefit from foreign presence using three different measures of absorptive...

"Business start-up schemes for the unemployed have been the focus of much research in recent years. However, not much is known about self-employment programs directed specifically towards welfare benefit recipients. For this latter group, a program granting start-up subsidies for up to 24 months...

This paper examines factors driving ICT adoption at firm level. We use a novel data set including information on ICT and e-commerce in Irish manufacturing firms over the period 2001-2004 and estimate a model derived from the new technology adoption literature that relates ICT adoption indicators...

We use comparable micro level panel data for 14 countries and a set of identically specified empirical models to investigate the relationship between exports and productivity. Our overall results are in line with the big picture that is by now familiar from the literature: Exporters are more...

We study the impact of the Brexit referendum on Irish exporters to the UK. The referendum triggered a sharp devaluation of the British pound vis-a-vis the euro and led to considerable uncertainty about future trade relations between the UK and the EU. Using administrative data on the universe of...

I apply the fixed versus variable cost trade-off associated with a multinational firm’s choice between investing abroad and exporting to a setting where the multinational is located inside an economically integrating region. I find that reducing obstacles to investment unambiguously favours...