Foreign Ownership and Occupational Safety: Evidence from France

Beata Javorcik, Alessia Lo Turco, Daniela Maggioni and Gianluca Santoni

No 22069, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper examines whether and how foreign acquisitions improve occupational safety. Using linked administrative data on French manufacturing plants over 2003–2017 and event studies on a matched sample, we find that foreign acquisitions reduce accident rates and workdays lost. Safety gains coincide with expanded managerial hierarchies, greater technical-manager presence, foreign manager hiring, and worker training. We find little evidence supporting automation, task reallocation, or outsourcing as alternative explanations. Moreover, domestic acquisitions do not generate comparable improvements. Our findings are consistent with foreign acquisitions improving workplace safety through the transfer of managerial and organisational practices, highlighting a benefit of multinational activity beyond conventional measures of firm performance.

Keywords: Multinational firms; Safety; Firm organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 F61 I10 J21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10
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