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Outsourcing and Firm Productivity in a Specific Local Production System: Evidence from Reggio Emilia (Italy)

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  • Davide Antonioli
  • Massimiliano Mazzanti
  • Sandro Montresor
  • Paolo Pini

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of outsourcing on the labor productivity of firms in a specific local production system. A number of hypotheses about the location-specific effects of outsourcing are put forward and tested on a sample of firms in the province of Reggio Emilia (within the Emilia-Romagna region, in North-East Italy). The relationship between outsourcing and productivity turns out positive only if considering the externalization of high value-added activities. On the contrary, it is negative in the case of low value-added activities. This occurs to a greater extent for firms in mature industrial districts, whose socio-economic conditions however do not arrive to magnify the productivity premium of externalizing high value-added ones. The technological innovativeness of the firms instead helps with that, pointing to a developmental use of outsourcing in the area.

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  • Davide Antonioli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Sandro Montresor & Paolo Pini, 2015. "Outsourcing and Firm Productivity in a Specific Local Production System: Evidence from Reggio Emilia (Italy)," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 292-320, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:46:y:2015:i:2:p:292-320
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