One robust finding is that productivity tends to be
higher for MNEs than for domestic firms in the same sector
(Arnold and Javorcik, 2009; Haddad and Harrison,
1993; Helpman et al., 2004).5 Of potentially greater importance
is the possibility that MNEs have a positive impact
on local firms’ productivity through the knowledge
spillovers occasioned by the technology and know-how
that accompany the foreign capital embodied in FDI.