The impact of globalisation and trade on productivity per- formance of the Irish food manufacturing sector

Globalisation and international integration can yield efficiency gains through the promotion of competition and trade in markets for internationally traded goods. At the firm level, exposure to competitive pressures has created a necessity for firms to operate as close as possible to the technology frontier in order to survive. Furthermore, increased integration has lead to an influx of investment by Multinational corporations who bring with them technological innovations. This has the effect of improving overall productivity by shifting the best practice technology frontier while at the same time making it increasingly difficult for smaller competitors to survive. In an Irish context, the food industry has recently been acknowledged in national policy as an important sector for future development. The aim of this paper is to measure the productivity performance of the food processing industry in Ireland and establish the extent to which globalisation has brought about efficiency and productivity gains to the industry.