STRATEGIC LOCATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING FOREIGN INVESTMENT Available to Purchase

Ireland is the tenth largest producer of drugs. From research undertaken during 1989‐92, aims to identify how Irish industrial policy influences US and European pharmaceutical multinationals to locate part of their global subsidiaries in the Republic of Ireland. Sent questionnaires to 70 chief executive officers of US and European subsidiaries in Ireland (60 per cent response rate) and followed these with in‐depth interviews. Discusses the strategic locational factors and shows that government grants are only really attractive to European firms, but that low corporate tax (a standard corporation tax rate of 10 per cent until the year 2010) is the most important locational factor for both US and European firms. Other factors include high drug prices in Ireland (representing a positive return on investment); and the availability of low cost but highly skilled labour.