Foreign‐to‐domestic labour mobility in Sweden

Abstract

AbstractThis exploratory study examines foreign‐to‐domestic labour mobility in Sweden with focus on the magnitude and features of potential spillover agents and the importance of the observed labour mobility flows in a spatial context. Although the study does not provide any definite conclusion on whether there exist spillover effects from labour mobility, it demonstrates that there is a non‐trivial magnitude of labour mobility that can result in some form of indirect knowledge or technology transfer from parents to affiliates, and subsequently from affiliates to the local economy. Labour mobility may thus be an important channel for foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers in Sweden. However, the study also shows that it is unlikely that spillovers from labour mobility will occur in many of the 72 local labour market regions because of absent or very small labour mobility flows. Rather, much the observed labour mobility flows create potentials for FDI spillovers in a few larger regions. This suggests that indirect benefits from FDI can be conditional to a particular spatial context, which poses both challenges and opportunities for planners and policy‐makers that seek to promote regional economic development through inward FDI.