Workers paid more in foreign owned firms

Another Treasury working paper finds:

Comparison of earnings patterns across and domestically-owned firms shows a clear difference in average individual earnings. Workers in foreign-owned firms earn, on average, around 14 percent more than those in domestically-owned firms. This gap is primarily due to compositional differences, with observable worker and firm characteristics jointly explaining around 80 percent of the raw earnings gap, leaving a residual gap of between 2.7 and 3.5 percent for starting and ending wages respectively.

Workers who move into foreign-owned firms gain around a four percentage point higher wage increase than those moving between domestically-owned firms, of which around half appears to be due to differences in firm characteristics (eg, moves to larger firms and more highly paid regions or industries). Controlling for firm composition, a two percentage point premium remains. Finally, workers experience slightly higher wage growth during their tenure at a foreign-owned firm, which may reflect stronger human capital accumulation.

So he stands for higher wages, yet they also oppose foreign investment. Do you see the contradiction.

And in case you argue the wage gap is because foreign owned firms are larger:

The foreign-ownership wage premium also varies across firms. It is highest in smaller firms, and in industries that tend to serve the domestic market, suggesting that foreign owners bring knowledge or networks that are of value to such firms and their employees.

So can we stop the fear campaign against ?

Comments (10)

Login to comment or vote

Add a Comment