ESRI: Innovation and skills key to attracting investors

Innovation intensity and the cluster effect are becoming as important as the corporate tax rate for multinationals in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector before they decide to invest, according to a report by the ESRI.

The report’s author, Iulia Siedschlag, looked into the reasons why US and EU multinationals made investment decisions across the EU.

The foreign direct investment sector is of huge importance to the Irish economy, representing a significant portion of the country’s exports. However, much of the original success in attracting multinationals to Ireland was based on having a low corporate tax rate.