The Regional Dimension of Industrial Policy and Performance in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

From its inception in the late 1940s, Irish industrial policy has attempted to disperse industrial plants across regions, thereby avoiding the problem of rural-urban migration experienced by many developing countries. Analysing a large sample of companies which established in Ireland in the early 1980s, we examine whether the survival rates of companies and jobs are lower in peripheral compared with core regions, and whether indigenous and foreign companies differ in this regard. We find higher (lower) company and job survival rates for indigenous (foreign) companies at the core than at the periphery.