From local to global: How foreign acquisitions reshape job mobility

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Davidson, Carl; Heyman, Fredrik; Matusz, Steven; Sjoholm, Fredrik; Zhu, Susan Chun
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2026.104278
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: management-practices; earnings losses; FIRMS; multinationals; EMPLOYMENT; wages; US

摘要

This paper explores the impact of international experience on worker mobility, with a focus on Swedish companies acquired by foreign multinationals. We posit that international experience, by imparting knowledge about foreign operations, enhances an employee's appeal to multinational enterprises (MNEs). By matching acquired firms with comparable control firms and using a stacked difference-in-differences methodology, we observe a significant impact of foreign acquisitions on job mobility. Our results indicate that foreign acquisitions raise the likelihood of switching to another MNE by 3.6 percentage points, while reducing moves to local firms by approximately 4 percentage points. Furthermore, workers who transition to another MNE post-acquisition have significantly higher wage growth compared to those who stay. Additional analyses reveal that the positive effect on mobility to MNEs is linked to learning opportunities stemming from increased trade linkages within multinational production networks and the implementation of advanced technologies after an acquisition.