Neil Foster-McGregor

Research Associate

email: foster@wiiw.ac.at
telephone: (+43-1) 533 66 10

Neil Foster-McGregor is currently Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Globalisation at UNU-MERIT in Maastricht/NL and Research Associate at wiiw. His research focuses on economic growth and development, international trade and globalisation, innovation and technology transfer, structural transformation and applied econometrics. His recent academic publications include papers on global value chains and firm performance; structural transformation in Africa; automation, global value chains and employment; and the impact of preferential trade agreements. Neil also has extensive experience in policy research and processes, working with various international organisations including the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commission, UNICEF, UNIDO and others. Neil obtained his Master's degree and PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham.

Austria, Vienna

External Publications

Articles in refereed journals
  • 'The importance of absorptive capacities: productivity effects of international R&D spillovers through intermediate inputs' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Vol. 26, No. 8, 2017, pp. 719-733
  • 'International R&D spillovers and Business Service Innovation' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), The World Economy, Vol. 39, No. 12, 2016, pp. 2025–2045
  • 'Offshoring and the Elasticity of Labour Demand' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), Open Economies Review, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2016, pp. 515-540
  • 'Offshoring, Inshoring and Labor Market Volatility' (with Johannes Pöschl), Asian Economic Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2015, pp. 145-163
  • 'Outward foreign direct investment, exporting and firm-level performance in sub-Saharan Africa' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2, 2014, pp. 244-257
  • 'Importing, exporting and performance in sub-Saharan manufacturing firms' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), Review of World Economics, Vol. 150, No. 2, 2014, pp. 309-336
  • 'Intellectual property rights and the margins of international trade', Journal of International Trade and Development, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2014, pp. 1-30
  • 'Offshoring and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand' (with Gaaitzen De Vries and Robert Stehrer), Review of World Economics, Vol. 149, No. 4, 2013, pp. 631-662
  • 'On the determinants of investment in sub-Saharan African firms', African Development Review, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2013, pp. 573-586
  • 'Value added content of trade: A comprehensive approach' (with Robert Stehrer), Economics Letters, Vol. 120, No. 2, 2013, pp. 354-357
  • 'Trade Liberalisation, Economic Crises and Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), World Development, Vol. 40, No. 11, 2012, pp. 2177-2193
  • 'Preferential trade agreements and the margins of imports', Open Economies Review, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 869-889
  • 'The impact of preferential trade agreements on the margins of international trade' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), Economic Systems, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2011, pp. 84-97
  • 'Preferential trade agreements and the structure of international trade' (with Robert Stehrer), Review of World Economics, Vol. 147, No. 3, 2011, pp. 385-409
  • 'Determinants of Regional Economic Growth by Quantile' (with Jesus Crespo-Cuaresma and Robert Stehrer), Regional Studies, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2011, pp. 809-826
  • 'Labour Market Rigidities and International Risk Sharing Across OECD Countries' (with Jarko Fidrmuc and Johann Scharler), Journal of International Money and Finance, Vol. 30, No. 4, June 2011, pp. 660-677
  • 'The Impact of Preferential Trade Agreements on Intra-Industry Trade' (with Robert Stehrer), Review of World Economics, Vol. 147, No. 3, 2011, pp. 385-409
  • 'Trade, Imitative Ability and Intellectual Property Rights' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), Review of World Economics, Vol. 145, No. 3, 2009, pp. 373-404
  • 'Sectoral Productivity, Density and Agglomeration in the Wider Europe' (with Robert Stehrer), Spatial Economic Analysis, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2009, pp. 377-396
  • 'The Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Economic Growth: Evidence from a Quantile Regression Analysis', Kyklos, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2008, pp. 543-567
  • 'Imported Equipment, Human Capital and Economic Growth in Developing Countries' (with Uwe Dulleck), Economic Analysis and Policy, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2008, pp. 233-250
  • 'Barriers to Technology Adoption, International R&D Spillovers and Growth' (with Jesus Crespo-Cuaresma and Johann Scharler), Economics Bulletin, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2008, pp. 1-7
  • 'Relative Backwardness, Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Spillovers' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), Economics Letters, Vol. 97, No. 3, 2007, pp. 230-234
  • 'Modeling Transformation in CEECs Using Smooth Transitions' (with Robert Stehrer), Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2007, pp. 57-86
  • 'Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), Review of Development Economics, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2006, pp. 700-719
  • 'Exports, Growth and Threshold Effects in Africa', Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 42, No. 6, 2006, pp. 1056-1074
  • 'Does Venture Capital Investment spur Employment Growth' (with Ansgar Belke and Rainer Fehn), Finance India, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2006, pp. 75-98
  • 'Dimensions of Quality Upgrading - Evidence for CEEC's' (with Uwe Dulleck, Robert Stehrer and Julia Wörz), The Economics of Transition, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2005, pp. 51-76
  • 'Imports, Exports, Knowledge Spillovers and Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), Economics Letters, Vol. 85, No. 2, 2004, pp. 209-213
  • 'Venture Capital Investment and Employment Growth' (with Ansgar Belke and Rainer Fehn), Problems and Perspectives in Management, No. 1/2004, 2004, pp. 5-19
  • 'North-South Trade, Knowledge Spillovers and Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), Journal of Economic Integration, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2002, pp. 650-670
  • 'Book Review of 'The New Global Economy and Developing Countries: Making Openness Work' by Dani Rodrik', Journal of International Development, Vol. 12, No. 5, 2000, pp. 765-766
Articles in books
  • 'Trade Liberalization, Structural Change, and Economic Growth' (with Michael Landesmann), in: Ludovico Alcorta, Neil Foster-McGregor, Adam Szirmai and Bart Verspagen (eds), New Perspectives on Structural Change: Causes and Consequences of Structural Change in the Global Economy, Chapter 18, Oxford University Press, 25 March 2021, pp. 407-441
  • 'Internationalisation of business investments in R&D and analysis of their economic impact' (with Bernhard Dachs, Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Gabor Hunya, Franziska Kampik, Sandra M. Leitner, Thomas Scherngell, Robert Stehrer, Waltraut Urban and Georg Zahradnik), European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation, Luxembourg, 2012
  • 'Venture Capital Investment and Labour Market Performance: A Panel Data Analysis' (with Ansgar Belke and Rainer Fehn), in: Vesa Kanniainen and Christian Keuschnigg (eds), Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004
  • 'On the Determinants of Absorptive Capacity: Evidence from OECD Countries' (with Jesus Crespo-Cuaresma and Johann Scharler), Current Issues in Economic Growth, Proceedings of OeNB Workshops, OeNB, Vienna, 2004, pp. 58-81
Articles in non-refereed journals
  • 'Why Transition Countries may Specialize in Low Quality Production' (with Uwe Dulleck), Transition Studies Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2005, pp. 114-124
Other working papers and discussion series
  • 'International fragmentation of production, trade and growth: Impacts and prospects for EU member states' (with Robert Stehrer and Marcel Timmer), European Economy. Economic Papers, 484, Brussels, April 2013
  • 'Exporting and Productivity: Some initial results for Austria' (with Roman Stöllinger), FIW Spezial, Nr. 5, Juni 2012
  • 'Offshoring and Labour Markets', FIW Spezial, Nr. 3, April 2012
  • 'Value Added and Factors in Trade: A Comprehensive Approach' (with Gaaitzen De Vries and Robert Stehrer), WIOD Working Paper, No. 7, April 2012
  • 'Offshoring and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand' (with Gaaitzen De Vries, Robert Stehrer and Marcel Timmer), WIOD Working Paper, No. 6, April 2012
  • 'Preferential Trade Agreements and the Structure of International Trade' (with Robert Stehrer), WIOD Working Paper, No. 4, February 2010
  • 'Trade Liberalisation, Economic Crises and Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), GEP Research Paper, No. 2008/14, The Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, The University of Nottingham, 2008
  • 'Sectoral Productivity, Density and Agglomeration in the Wider Europe' (with Robert Stehrer), MICRO-DYN Working Paper, No. 01/08, 2008
  • 'Imported Equipment, Human Capital and Economic Growth in Developing Countries' (with Uwe Dulleck), National Centre for Econometric Research Working Paper, No. 16, 2007
  • 'Labour Market Rigidities, Financial Integration and International Risk Sharing in the OECD' (with Jarko Fidrmuc and Johann Scharler), CESifo Working Paper, No. 2028, June 2007
  • 'North-South Trade, Openness and Growth' (with Rod Falvey and David Greenaway), University of Vienna, Faculty of Economics Working Paper, No. 0108, June 2001

wiiw Publications

wiiw Monthly Reports
  • 'Vertical trade and business cycle correlations', Monthly Report No. 3/2014, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 3, Vienna, March 2014, pp. 12-15
  • 'Volume and variety of intra-bloc trade in an expanded European Union ', Monthly Report No. 8-9/2012, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 8-9, Vienna, September 2012, pp. 1-6
  • 'The impact of offshoring on the skill structure of labour demand' (with Robert Stehrer), Monthly Report No. 6/2012, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 6, Vienna, June 2012, pp. 10-15
  • 'Recent trends in the quality of traded goods: NMS are closing the gaps' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), Monthly Report No. 3/2011, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 3, Vienna, March 2011, pp. 12-19
  • 'Are CEECs trapped in low-quality export specialization?' (with Uwe Dulleck, Robert Stehrer and Julia Wörz), Monthly Report 08-09/2003, wiiw Monthly Report, No. 8-9, Vienna, September 2003, pp. 10-17
wiiw Research Reports
  • 'The Relation between Industry and Services in Terms of Productivity and Value Creation' (with Paul Baker, Koenen Johannes, Sandra M. Leitner, Julia Schricker, Robert Stehrer, Thomas Strobel, Jurgen Vermeulen, Hans-Günther Vieweg and Anastasia Yagafarova), wiiw Research Report, No. 404, Vienna, July 2015
  • 'Earnings Distributions and Dimensions of Inequality ' (with Sebastian Leitner, Sandra M. Leitner, Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Research Report, No. 399, Vienna, December 2014
  • 'Reducing Productivity and Efficiency Gaps: the Role of Knowledge Assets, Absorptive Capacity and Institutions' (with Johannes Pöschl, Ana Rincon-Aznar, Robert Stehrer, Michaela Vecchi and Francesco Venturini), wiiw Research Report, No. 396, Vienna, September 2014
  • 'A ‘Manufacturing Imperative’ in the EU – Europe's Position in Global Manufacturing and the Role of Industrial Policy' (with Mario Holzner, Michael Landesmann, Johannes Pöschl, Robert Stehrer and Roman Stöllinger), wiiw Research Report, No. 391, Vienna, October 2013
  • 'International Fragmentation of Production, Trade and Growth: Impacts and Prospects for EU Member States' (with Robert Stehrer and Marcel Timmer), wiiw Research Report, No. 387, Vienna, May 2013
  • 'Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries', wiiw Research Report, No. 380, Vienna, August 2012
  • 'Sectoral Employment Effects of Economic Downturns' (with Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Sandra M. Leitner, Sebastian Leitner, Nirina Rabemiafara, Fadila Sanoussi, Robert Stehrer and Terry Ward), wiiw Research Report, No. 379, Vienna, August 2012
  • 'Revival of the Visegrad Countries’ Mutual Trade after their EU Accession: a Search for Explanation' (with Gabor Hunya, Olga Pindyuk and Sandor Richter), wiiw Research Report, No. 372, Vienna, July 2011
  • 'Trade in Intermediate Products and EU Manufacturing Supply Chains ' (with Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö, Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Petri Rouvinen, Timo Seppälä, Robert Stehrer, Roman Stöllinger and Pekka Ylä-Anttila), wiiw Research Report, No. 369, Vienna, February 2011
wiiw Working Papers
  • 'Migration and FDI Flows' (with Michael Landesmann and Isilda Mara), wiiw Working Paper, No. 141, Vienna, March 2018
  • 'Capacities and Absorptive Barriers for International R&D Spillovers through Intermediate Inputs' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 108, Vienna, October 2014
  • 'Importing, Productivity and Absorptive Capacity in Sub-Saharan African Manufacturing Firms' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), wiiw Working Paper, No. 105, Vienna, November 2013
  • 'On the Trade and Price Effects of Preferential Trade Agreements' (with Rod Falvey), wiiw Working Paper, No. 102, Vienna, June 2013
  • 'Foreign Ownership and Labour Markets in Sub-Saharan African Firms' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), wiiw Working Paper, No. 99, Vienna, March 2013
  • 'Importing, Exporting and the Productivity of Services Firms in Sub-Saharan Africa' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), wiiw Working Paper, No. 98, Vienna, March 2013
  • 'Outward Foreign Direct Investment, Exporting and Firm-Level Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), wiiw Working Paper, No. 97, Vienna, March 2013
  • 'Importing, Exporting and Performance in Sub-Saharan African Manufacturing Firms' (with Anders Isaksson and Florian Kaulich), wiiw Working Paper, No. 96, Vienna, March 2013
  • 'Offshoring and the Elasticity of Labour Demand' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 90, Vienna, July 2012
  • 'Manufacturing Productivity: Effects of Service Sector Innovations and Institutions' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 89, Vienna, July 2012
  • 'Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Technology Transfer: A Survey' (with Anja Breitwieser), wiiw Working Paper, No. 88, Vienna, June 2012
  • 'On the Volume and Variety of Intra-Bloc Trade in an Expanded European Union', wiiw Working Paper, No. 87, Vienna, June 2012
  • 'Offshoring and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand' (with Gaaitzen De Vries and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 86, Vienna, June 2012
  • 'Value Added and Factors in Trade: A Comprehensive Approach' (with Gaaitzen De Vries and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 80, Vienna, June 2012
  • 'The Impact of Preferential Trade Agreements on the Margins of International Trade' (with Johannes Pöschl and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 70, Vienna, September 2010
  • 'Preferential Trade Agreements and the Structure of International Trade' (with Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 61, Vienna, January 2010
  • 'The Importance of Labour Mobility for Spillovers across Industries' (with Johannes Pöschl), wiiw Working Paper, No. 58, Vienna, October 2009
  • 'The Determinants of Regional Economic Growth by Quantile' (with Jesus Crespo-Cuaresma and Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 54, Vienna, May 2009
  • 'Sectoral Productivity, Density and Agglomeration in the Wider Europe' (with Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 47, Vienna, September 2008
  • 'Modelling GDP in CEECs Using Smooth Transitions' (with Robert Stehrer), wiiw Working Paper, No. 36, Vienna, December 2005
  • 'Dimensions of Quality Upgrading in CEECs' (with Uwe Dulleck, Robert Stehrer and Julia Wörz), wiiw Working Paper, No. 29, Vienna, April 2004
Other wiiw publications
  • 'Low-quality Trap or Quality Upgrading' (with Uwe Dulleck, Robert Stehrer and Julia Wörz), in: Michael Landesmann (eds), wiiw Structural Report 2003 on Central and Eastern Europe, Volume 3, wiiw Structural Report, Vol. 3, Vienna, October 2003

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