Effects of hiring former employees of multinationals in the absorptive capacity of local firms

Attracting Foreign Direct Investment seeks, among other goals, increase productivity of local firms through knowledge spillovers. Nevertheless the empirical evidence is contradictory. One influential factor is the absorptive capacity of local firms. This article analyzes the effect of the presence of ex-employees of multinational companies, as employees of local firms in the absorption capacity of these firms. The study was conducted in Costa Rica, a country recognized for its successful strategy in this area. The data come from a survey of 1,167 companies conducted by the Costa Rican Observatory of Small and Mediums Enterprises in 2011. It was found that hiring former employees of multinational companies by local firms has a positive effect on the rate of absorption capacity. In short, this engagement of former employees of multinationals increases by nine percentage points the rate of absorption capacity, with differences for sectors and firms sizes.