This paper analyses the domestic performance of UK multinational firms from two perspectives: (i) their productivity relative to foreign multinationals, domestic exporters and non-exporters, and (ii) their ability to benefit newly acquired affiliates. Nonparametric analysis shows that the productivity distribution of UK multinationals is dominated by their foreign counterparts (especially US firms), and quantile regressions reveal that the performance disadvantage of UK multinationals is more pronounced at the higher end of the productivity distribution. Using a difference-in-differences methodology, it is found that, unlike foreign acquisitions, take-overs of domestic non-exporting firms by UK multinationals do not appear to lead to any productivity improvements.
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