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The Impact of Outsourcing to China on Hong Kong's Labor Market

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  • Chang-Tai Hsieh
  • Keong T. Woo
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    Abstract

    We measure the impact of China's decision to open its economy in 1980 on outsourcing from Hong Kong and the relative demand for less-skilled workers. We show that the relative demand for skilled workers in Hong Kong increased at the same time outsourcing to China began to increase. The reallocation of workers from manufacturing to "outsourcing services" can account for 15 percent, and increased utilization of skilled workers within manufacturing industries for 30 percent, of the aggregate relative demand shift. In addition, the rate of skill upgrading has been greater in manufacturing industries that have seen a greater degree of outsourcing to China.

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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/000282805775014272
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/data/dec05_data_20050074.zip
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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

    Volume (Year): 95 (2005)
    Issue (Month): 5 (December)
    Pages: 1673-1687

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    Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:95:y:2005:i:5:p:1673-1687

    Note: DOI: 10.1257/000282805775014272
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    References

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    1. Feenstra, R.C. & Hanson, G.H., 1995. "Foreign Investment, Outsourcing and Relative Wages," Department of Economics 95-14, California Davis - Department of Economics.
    2. Berman, E. & Bound, J. & Machin, S., 1997. "Implications of Skill-Biased Technological Change: International Evidence," Papers 25, Centre for Economic Performance & Institute of Economics.
    3. Avinash K. Dixit & Gene M. Grossman, 1982. "Trade and Protection with Multistage Production," NBER Working Papers 0794, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Murphy, Kevin M & Welch, Finis, 1992. "The Structure of Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 285-326, February.
    5. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275, February.
    6. Deardorff, Alan V, 2001. "International Provision of Trade Services, Trade, and Fragmentation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 233-48, May.
    7. Robert Feenstra, 2003. "Integration Of Trade And Disintegration Of Production In The Global Economy," Working Papers 986, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    8. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed The Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213, November.
    9. Gordon H. Hanson & Raymond J. Mataloni & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2005. "Vertical Production Networks in Multinational Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 664-678, November.
    10. repec:rus:hseeco:121605 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Eli Berman & John Bound & Zvi Griliches, 1994. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 4255, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 2004. "Intermediaries in Entrepot Trade: Hong Kong Re-Exports of Chinese Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 3-35, 03.
    13. Slaughter, Matthew J., 2000. "Production transfer within multinational enterprises and American wages," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 449-472, April.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:
    1. Nathalie Chusseau & Joël Hellier, 2012. "Globalization and Inequality: Where do we stand?," Working Papers 279, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    2. Aronsson, Thomas & Koskela, Erkki, 2011. "Redistributive income taxation, outsourcing and foreign direct investment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 86-89, February.
    3. Rosario Crinò, 2007. "Offshoring, Multinationals and Labor Market: A Review of the Empirical Literature," KITeS Working Papers 196, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Jan 2007.
    4. Michael K. Salemi, 2007. "Long-run and Cyclic Movements in the Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong: A Dynamic, General Equilibrium Approach," Working Papers 192007, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    5. Chun-Yu Ho & Kam Wing Siu, 2006. "A Dynamic Equilibrium of Electricity Consumption and GDP in Hong Kong: An Empirical Investigation," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2006-049, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    6. Philippe Aghion & Robin Burgess & Stephen Redding & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India," IEW - Working Papers 345, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    7. Sebastian Benz, 2012. "Trading Tasks: A Dynamic Theory of Offshoring," Ifo Working Paper Series Ifo Working Paper No. 150, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    8. Aronsson, Thomas & Koskela, Erkki, 2009. "Outsourcing, Public Input Provision and Policy Cooperation," IZA Discussion Papers 4662, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    9. Geishecker, Ingo, 2008. "The impact of international outsourcing on individual employment security: A micro-level analysis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 291-314, June.
    10. Thomas Aronsson & Erkki Koskela, 2009. "Outsourcing, Public Input Provision and Policy Cooperation," CESifo Working Paper Series 2886, CESifo Group Munich.

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