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Offshoring and Wage Inequality: Theory and Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Sheng, Liugang

    (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Yang, Dennis T.

    (University of Virginia)

Abstract
We present a global production sharing model that integrates the organizational choices of offshoring into the determination of relative wages in developing countries. The model shows that offshoring through foreign direct investment contributes more prominently than arm's length outsourcing to the demand for skill in the South, thereby increasing the relative wage of skilled workers. We incorporate these theoretical results into an augmented Mincer earnings function and test the model based on a natural experiment in which China lifted its restrictions on foreign ownership for multinational companies upon its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Empirical findings based on detailed Urban Household Surveys and trade data from Chinese customs provide support to our proposed theory, thus shedding light on the changes in firm ownership structure, the skill upgrading in exports, and the evolution of wage inequality from 1992 to 2008 in China's manufacturing sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheng, Liugang & Yang, Dennis T., 2017. "Offshoring and Wage Inequality: Theory and Evidence from China," IZA Discussion Papers 10924, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10924
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qing & Yao, Wen, 2020. "Earnings inequality and China's preferential lending policy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Daron Acemoglu & Gino Gancia & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2015. "Offshoring and Directed Technical Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 84-122, July.
    4. Lai, Tat-Kei & Wang, Luhang, 2024. "Spatial disparity of skill premium in China: The role of financial intermediation development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & Arnab K. Basu & Nancy H. Chau & Devashish Mitra, 2022. "On Terms of Trade, Offshoring Ties, and the Enforcement of Trade Agreements," Working Papers 2022-039, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Apr 2023.
    6. Andrea Coveri & Elena Paglialunga & Antonello Zanfei, 2023. "Global value chains, functional diversification and within-country inequality: an empirical assessment," Working Papers 2302, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2023.
    7. Feicheng Wang & Chris Milner & Juliane Scheffel, 2022. "Export destination and the skill premium: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing industries," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1057-1094, May.
    8. Bie, Xiaodong & Ciani, Andrea, 2021. "Born similar, develop apart: Evidence on Chinese hybrid exporters," DICE Discussion Papers 364, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    9. Li, Hongbin & Li, Lei & Ma, Hong, 2022. "China's skill-biased imports," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Gino Gancia, 2012. "Globalization, technology and inequality," Economics Working Papers 1363, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Nov 2012.
    11. Inoue, Atsushi & Jin, Lu & Rossi, Barbara, 2017. "Rolling window selection for out-of-sample forecasting with time-varying parameters," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 196(1), pages 55-67.
    12. Timmer, Marcel & Los, Bart & Vries, Gaaitzen J. de, 2012. "China and the World Economy:A Global Value Chain Perspective on Exports, Incomes and Jobs," GGDC Research Memorandum GD-128, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    offshoring; ownership structure; processing trade; wage inequality; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

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