[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/revinw/v64y2018i1p26-51.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Off‐Shoring, Specialization and R&D

Author

Listed:
  • Ioannis Bournakis
  • Michela Vecchi
  • Francesco Venturini
Abstract
This paper investigates whether off‐shoring promotes technological specialization by reallocating resources towards high‐tech industries and/or stimulating within industry R&D. Using data for the USA, Japan and Europe, our results show that material off‐shoring promotes high‐tech specialization through input reallocation between sectors, while service off‐shoring favors technologically advanced production by increasing within‐industry productivity, mainly via its positive impact on R&D. Conversely, we find that the increasing fragmentation of core production tasks, captured by narrow off‐shoring, has adverse effects on technological specialisation, which suggests that this type of off‐shoring is mainly pursued for cost‐reduction motives.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannis Bournakis & Michela Vecchi & Francesco Venturini, 2018. "Off‐Shoring, Specialization and R&D," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(1), pages 26-51, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:64:y:2018:i:1:p:26-51
    DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12239
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12239
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/roiw.12239?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2004. "Outsourcing, Foreign Ownership, and Productivity: Evidence from UK Establishment‐level Data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 817-832, November.
    2. F. Daveri & C. Jona-Lasinio, 2007. "Off-shoring and productivity growth in the Italian manufacturing industries," Economics Department Working Papers 2007-EP08, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    3. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2015. "Patent rights, product market reforms, and innovation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 223-262, September.
    4. Russell Thomson, 2013. "Measures of R&D Tax Incentives for OECD Countries," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 4(3).
    5. J. Jensen, 2008. "Trade in High-Tech Services," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 181-197, December.
    6. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    7. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    8. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 1999. "The Impact of Outsourcing and High-Technology Capital on Wages: Estimates For the United States, 1979–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 907-940.
    9. Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, 2015. "Service off-shoring and productivity growth in the European economies," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 6(2).
    10. Alireza Naghavi & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2009. "Offshoring and product innovation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 38(3), pages 517-532, March.
    11. Feenstra, Robert C & Hanson, Gordon H, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 240-245, May.
    12. James Harrigan & Egon Zakrajsek, 2000. "Factor Supplies and Specialization in the World Economy," NBER Working Papers 7848, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Harrigan, James, 1997. "Technology, Factor Supplies, and International Specialization: Estimating the Neoclassical Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 475-494, September.
    14. Adrian Wood, 1997. "How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Jitendralal Borkakoti & Chris Milner (ed.), International Trade and Labour Markets, chapter 7, pages 140-168, Palgrave Macmillan.
    15. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "How Taxing is Corruption on International Investors?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, February.
    16. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 335-356, February.
    17. Alexander Hijzen & Tomohiko Inui & Yasuyuki Todo, 2010. "Does Offshoring Pay? Firm‐Level Evidence From Japan," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(4), pages 880-895, October.
    18. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2011. "Services Outsourcing And Innovation: An Empirical Investigation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(2), pages 321-333, April.
    19. Ancarani, Alessandro & Di Mauro, Carmela & Fratocchi, Luciano & Orzes, Guido & Sartor, Marco, 2015. "Prior to reshoring: A duration analysis of foreign manufacturing ventures," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 141-155.
    20. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    21. Renaud Bourlès & Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2013. "Do Product Market Regulations In Upstream Sectors Curb Productivity Growth? Panel Data Evidence For OECD Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1750-1768, December.
    22. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2003. "Economic Growth, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262025531, April.
    23. Alessandro Sterlacchini & Francesco Venturini, 2014. "R&D and Productivity in High-Tech Manufacturing: A Comparison between Italy and Spain," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 359-379, July.
    24. Ginarte, Juan C. & Park, Walter G., 1997. "Determinants of patent rights: A cross-national study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 283-301, October.
    25. Dirk Frantzen, 2008. "R&D and manufacturing production specialization in developed economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(23), pages 3009-3027.
    26. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi‐Hansberg, 2012. "Task Trade Between Similar Countries," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 593-629, March.
    27. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, "undated". "Productivity Measurement And The Impact Of Trade And Technology On Wages: Estimates For The U.S., 1972-1990," Department of Economics 97-17, California Davis - Department of Economics.
    28. Castellacci, Fulvio & Natera, Jose Miguel, 2011. "A new panel dataset for cross-country analyses of national systems, growth and development (CANA)," MPRA Paper 28376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    29. Bernhard Dachs & Bernd Ebersberger & Steffen Kinkel & Oliver Som, 2015. "The effects of production offshoring on R&D and innovation in the home country," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 9-31, March.
    30. Harrigan, James, 1999. "Estimation of cross-country differences in industry production functions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 267-293, April.
    31. Mary Amiti & Shang‐Jin Wei, 2009. "Service Offshoring and Productivity: Evidence from the US," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 203-220, February.
    32. Bernhard Michel & François Rycx, 2014. "Productivity Gains and Spillovers from Offshoring," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 73-85, February.
    33. Feenstra, Robert C. & Hanson, Gordon H., 1997. "Foreign direct investment and relative wages: Evidence from Mexico's maquiladoras," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-4), pages 371-393, May.
    34. Mary O'Mahony & Marcel P. Timmer, 2009. "Output, Input and Productivity Measures at the Industry Level: The EU KLEMS Database," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(538), pages 374-403, June.
    35. Michael Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Ayseful Sahin, 2013. "The Decline of the U.S. Labor Share," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 44(2 (Fall)), pages 1-63.
    36. Ronald W. Jones & Sugata Marjit, 2018. "The Role of International Fragmentation in the Development Process," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade Theory and Competitive Models Features, Values, and Criticisms, chapter 15, pages 255-261, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    37. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2008. "Trading Tasks: A Simple Theory of Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1978-1997, December.
    38. Harrigan, James, 1995. "Factor endowments and the international location of production: Econometric evidence for the OECD, 1970-1985," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 123-141, August.
    39. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, "undated". "Productivity Measurement And The Impact Of Trade And Technology On Wages: Estimates For The U.S., 1972-1990," Department of Economics 97-17, California Davis - Department of Economics.
    40. Alexander Hijzen & Holger Görg & Robert C. Hine, 2005. "International Outsourcing and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand in the United Kingdom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(506), pages 860-878, October.
    41. John Hutchinson & Damiaan Persyn, 2012. "Globalisation, concentration and footloose firms: in search of the main cause of the declining labour share," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(1), pages 17-43, April.
    42. Bartel, Ann & Lach, Saul & Sicherman, Nachum, 2005. "Outsourcing and Technological Change," CEPR Discussion Papers 5082, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    43. Caroline Freund & Diana Weinhold, 2002. "The Internet and International Trade in Services," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 236-240, May.
    44. Alan V. Deardorff & Robert W. STAIGER, 2011. "An Interpretation Of The Factor Content Of Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert M Stern (ed.), Comparative Advantage, Growth, And The Gains From Trade And Globalization A Festschrift in Honor of Alan V Deardorff, chapter 38, pages 531-545, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    45. Baldwin, Richard & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2014. "Trade-in-goods and trade-in-tasks: An integrating framework," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 51-62.
    46. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November.
    47. Francesco Daveri & Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, 2008. "Off-shoring and Productivity Growth in the Italian Manufacturing Industries -super-‡," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 54(3), pages 414-450, September.
    48. Patrik Karpaty & Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall, 2015. "Offshoring and Home Country R&D," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 655-676, April.
    49. Noland, Marcus, 1993. "The Impact of Industrial Policy on Japan's Trade Specialization," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(2), pages 241-248, May.
    50. Olivier Cadot & Yuliya Shakurova, 2010. "Endowments, Specialization, and Policy," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 913-923, November.
    51. Robert Feenstra & Gordon Hanson, 2001. "Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages," NBER Working Papers 8372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    52. Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2014. "Low-wage country competition and the quality content of high-wage country exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 140-152.
    53. Glass, Amy Jocelyn & Saggi, Kamal, 2001. "Innovation and wage effects of international outsourcing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 67-86, January.
    54. Stephen R. Yeaple & Stephen S. Golub, 2007. "International Productivity Differences, Infrastructure, and Comparative Advantage," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 223-242, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Jong-Wha & McKibbin, Warwick J., 2018. "Service sector productivity and economic growth in Asia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 247-263.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ioannis Bournakis & Michela Vecchi & Francesco Venturini, 2011. "Offshoring and Specialisation: Are Industries Moving Abroad?," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 98/2011, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    2. Iammarino, Simona & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2015. "Offshoring and the Geography of Jobs in Great Britain," CEPR Discussion Papers 10855, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Burnett, Perry & Cutler, Harvey, 2018. "The transitional impacts of material and service offshoring," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 136-150.
    4. Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2015. "Integrated sectors - diversified earnings: the (missing) impact of offshoring on wages and wage convergence in the EU27," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(3), pages 325-350, September.
    5. David Hummels & Jakob R. Munch & Chong Xiang, 2018. "Offshoring and Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 981-1028, September.
    6. Dirk Bursian & Arne J. Nagengast, 2020. "Offshoring And The Polarization Of The Demand For Capital," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(1), pages 260-282, January.
    7. Li, Hongbin & Li, Lei & Ma, Hong, 2022. "China's skill-biased imports," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. João Amador & Sónia Cabral, 2014. "Global Value Chains: Surveying Drivers, Measures and Impacts," Working Papers w201403, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    9. Basu, Anwesha & Marjit, Sugata & Veeramani, C., 2024. "Growth gains from offshore outsourcing," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 90-112.
    10. Rosario Crinò, 2012. "Service Offshoring and the Skill Composition of Labour Demand," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(1), pages 20-57, February.
    11. Eppinger, Peter S., 2019. "Service offshoring and firm employment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 209-228.
    12. Linda Andersson & Patrik Karpaty & Selen Savsin, 2016. "Firm-level effects of offshoring of materials and services on relative labor demand," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(2), pages 321-350, May.
    13. Rosario Crinò, 2009. "Offshoring, Multinationals And Labour Market: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 197-249, April.
    14. Linda Andersson & Patrik Karpaty & Selen Savsin, 2017. "Labour Demand, Offshoring and Inshoring: Evidence from Swedish Firm-level Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 240-274, February.
    15. Katharina Längle, 2020. "Offshoring: What Consequences for Workers? Evidence from Global Value Chains," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 20005, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    16. Andrea F. Presbitero & Matteo G. Richiardi & Alessia A. Amighini, 2015. "Is labor flexibility a substitute to offshoring? Evidence from Italian manufacturing," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 142, pages 81-93.
    17. Baldwin, John R. Gu, Wulong, 2008. "Outsourcing and Offshoring in Canada," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2008055e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    18. Katharina Längle, 2020. "Offshoring: What Consequences for Workers? Evidence from Global Value Chains," Post-Print halshs-02899944, HAL.
    19. Katharina Längle, 2020. "Offshoring: What Consequences for Workers? Evidence from Global Value Chains," Working Papers hal-02548691, HAL.
    20. Becker, Sascha O. & Ekholm, Karolina & Muendler, Marc-Andreas, 2013. "Offshoring and the onshore composition of tasks and skills," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 91-106.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F6 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:64:y:2018:i:1:p:26-51. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iariwea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.