; ; ; "ActiveFedora::Aggregation::ListSource" . a , ; "Multinationals, Monopsony, and Local Development: Evidence from the United Fruit Company"; ; "jannelle.ruswick@mpls.frb.org"; "Méndez-Chacón, Esteban", "Van Patten, Diana"; "Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis"; "Long-run development", "Monopsony power", "Foreign firms"; "N16 - Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Latin America; Caribbean", "F23 - Multinational Firms; International Business", "O43 - Institutions and Growth"; "This paper studies the short- and long-run effects of large firms on economic development. We use evidence from one of the largest multinationals of the 20th century: the United Fruit Company (UFCo). The firm was given a large land concession in Costa Rica—one of the so-called \"Banana Republics\"—from 1899 to 1984. Using administrative census data with census-block geo-references from 1973 to 2011, we implement a geographic regression discontinuity design that exploits a quasi-random assignment of land. We find that the firm had a positive and persistent effect on living standards. Company documents explain that a key concern at the time was to attract and maintain a sizable workforce, which induced the firm to invest heavily in local amenities that can account for our result. Consistent with this mechanism, we show, empirically and through a proposed model, that the firm's welfare effect is increasing in worker mobility."^^; "2021-03-15"; "2021-03-15T16:09:07.052004861+00:00"^^; "https://doi.org/10.21034/iwp.46"; ; "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"; "2021-03-15T16:16:42.21190077+00:00"^^; "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"; "Research Paper"; "547", "808"; "Institute working paper (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute)"; "046"; "Long-run development", "Foreign firms", "Monopsony power"; ; ; ; ; "Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute"; ; "Publication" . ; .