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Domestic Outsourcing, Rent Seeking, and Increasing Inequality

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  • Eileen Appelbaum
Abstract
This paper argues that an important mechanism linking increasing rents and the rising earnings’ inequality among workers with similar skills is the increase in domestic outsourcing and the growth of networked forms of production. This has multiplied contractual relationships and legal claims to profit and rents that reflect interfirm power relations. Firms with the greatest clout are able to claim the largest share of the rents; the weakest struggle to remain viable.

Suggested Citation

  • Eileen Appelbaum, 2017. "Domestic Outsourcing, Rent Seeking, and Increasing Inequality," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 513-528, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:49:y:2017:i:4:p:513-528
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613417697121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; production networks; financialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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