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Wage Bargainingof 0.3 per cent per annum. He also further disaggregates 13 subsectors within the industry category which accounts for the period1991 to 1998 some 0.9 per cent per annum. Given the proportion ofGNP composed from industry this would approximate to anadditional 0.3 per cent per annum, or 0.6 per cent per annum intotal.Two tentative conclusions can be drawn from the magnitude of sucheffects. Firstly that it is important to develop a pool of skilled andflexible labour which is able to adapt to technological and sectoralchanges as they may develop in the wider international arena. Onlythen will we be able to maintain sustained levels of productivitygrowth and be in a position to react to sectoral shocks. Secondly, wemust interpret trends with caution as changes in the sectoralcomposition of output can also imply changes in the natures andcomposition of inputs to the production process.As a very open economy with a high level of foreign directinvestment, Ireland has been particularly affected by the behaviourof multi-national companies (MNCs) and the apparently very highlevels of value-added associated with their production. These veryhigh levels of recorded productivity derive to a considerable extentfrom the use of imported intangible resources (technological knowhow,brand values, R & D and so on). These sectors account for avery high level of manufacturing output but a small share ofemployment.In a recent analysis of productivity growth in Ireland, Honohan andWalsh (2002) prefer to show in addition to calculations based onGDP per person employed an adjusted figure excluding all MNCprofits as a refinement to using GNP per employee. This is shown inFigure 6.3, reproduced from their paper. Birnie and Hitchens (1998)point out the assumption that all profit outflows are the result oftransfer pricing is undoubtedly an exaggeration but permits us tocalculate an upper bound on the economic impact of the practice inIreland.263