This paper investigates the impact of foreign acquisition on the productivity of Slovenian manufacturing firms subject to takeover in 1997. It finds evidence that foreign investors acquire those enterprises with higher productivity, that are more inclined to export and that operate in more concentrated industries. It then controls for the estimation bias induced by this non-random selection process by applying the combined propensity score matching and difference-in-differences estimation technique. The results of the empirical analysis show no robust statistical evidence of a positive causal effect of foreign acquisition up to two years following takeover. This finding suggests that a transfer of intangible assets from foreign firms to their Slovenian affiliates does not take place over this time period. Copyright 2008 The Author. Journal compilation Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2008.

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This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail sector. It also draws attention to some neglected strands of research which provide useful insights into strategies that could allow productivity enhancements in this area of the economy. To date, very few attempts have been made to integrate different specialisms in order to explain what drives productivity in retail. Here we rectify this omission by putting together studies from economics, geography, knowledge management and employment studies. It is our view that quantitative studies of retail productivity should focus on total factor productivity in retailing as the result of competition/composition effects, planning regulations, ICT, the multinational operation element and workforce skills. Further, the fact that retail firms possess advantages that are transferable between locations, suggests that investment in strategies enhancing the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge between and within businesses are crucial to achieve productivity gains.

We investigate whether the adoption by workplaces of human resources management (HRM) practices that enhance face-to-face communication (FTFC) among employees is associated with productivity gains. The analysis is based on a nationally representative sample of over 500 British trading establishments drawn from the linked 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey and Annual Business Inquiry, for which objective measures of labour productivity (value added per employee) are available. We find a positive association between productivity and FTFC in problem-solving groups, teams and meetings of senior or line managers and employees, provided that FTFC is adopted on a continuous basis. Our finding suggests that British workplaces in the trading sector could increase their productivity by implementing HRM practices in such a way as to enhance knowledge sharing through employees' personal interactions. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2009.

Foreign direct investment is claimed to positively a¤ect …rms in the host country through a number of growth-enhancing e¤ects, generally termed "productivity spillovers." However, the empirical evidence for developing economies is quite controversial. This paper investigates the impact of foreign acquisition on the performances of a sample of Slovenian manufacturing …rms subject to takeover in 1997. The "propensity scorematching" estimation technique, also combined with the "di¤erence-in-di¤erences" approach, is used with the purpose of controlling for the potential bias arising from the nonrandom selection of acquired …rms. Our analysis con…rms that foreign investors acquire only the most productive …rms, while …nds no convincing evidence that the performances of such …rms improve in the post-acquisition period as a result of foreign acquisition.