No. 1539 - Foreign acquisitions, automation and labour share

Temi di discussione (Working papers)
by Fabrizio Leone
July 2026
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This paper studies the evolution of the labour share of value added in firms acquired by foreign multinationals, using firm-level data for the Spanish manufacturing sector between 1990 and 2017. To this end, the analysis compares acquired firms with non-acquired firms that had similar characteristics prior to the acquisition.

Firms acquired by foreign multinationals experience an increase in productivity and employment, accompanied, however, by a decline in the labour share of value added. The increased adoption of robotics in acquired firms is one of the main channels through which these effects materialize.

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  1. 30 July 2026
    No. 1539 - Foreign acquisitions, automation and labour share
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