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Offshoring and jobs: The myriad channels of influence

Author

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  • Groizard, Jose L.
  • Ranjan, Priya
  • Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio

Abstract

Offshoring reallocates jobs inside firms, between firms, and across sectors, affecting the economy-wide unemployment rate. We study these channels in a model with labor market frictions and two sectors—a differentiated-good sector comprising heterogeneous firms that can offshore, and a homogeneous-good sector. A decline in offshoring costs affects intrafirm and intrasectoral reallocation of jobs in the differentiated-good sector through a selection effect, a productivity effect, and a job-relocation effect. The key parameters determining the impact of offshoring on jobs at various margins, as well as on the economy-wide unemployment rate, are the elasticity of substitution between inputs, the elasticity of substitution between varieties of differentiated goods, and the elasticity of demand for differentiated goods as a whole. Changes in search frictions affect unemployment both directly and through their interaction with offshoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Groizard, Jose L. & Ranjan, Priya & Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio, 2014. "Offshoring and jobs: The myriad channels of influence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 221-239.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:72:y:2014:i:c:p:221-239
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2014.10.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Schäffler, Johannes, 2016. "German Direct Investments in the Czech Republic – Employment Effects on German Multinational Enterprises," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145526, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Eppinger, Peter S., 2019. "Service offshoring and firm employment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 209-228.
    3. Konstantin Koerner, 2023. "The wage effects of offshoring to the East and West: evidence from the German labor market," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(2), pages 399-435, May.
    4. Michael Koch & Ilya Manuylov & Marcel Smolka, 2021. "Robots and Firms," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(638), pages 2553-2584.
    5. Baumgarten, Daniel & Irlacher, Michael & Koch, Michael, 2020. "Offshoring and non-monotonic employment effects across industries in general equilibrium," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    6. Hartmut Egger & Udo Kreickemeier & Jens Wrona, 2017. "Offshoring Domestic Jobs," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade and Labor Markets Welfare, Inequality and Unemployment, chapter 2, pages 27-70, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Schäffler, Johannes & Moritz, Michael, 2018. "German FDI in the Czech Republic - Employment effects in the home country," IAB-Discussion Paper 201806, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Vallizadeh, Ehsan & Muysken, Joan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2016. "Offshoring medium-skill tasks, low-skill unemployment and the skill-wage structure," MERIT Working Papers 2016-070, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Xi Chen, 2018. "Implications of Firm Heterogeneity for Offshoring, Wage and Employment," FIW Working Paper series 191, FIW.
    10. Asquith, Brian & Goswami, Sanjana & Neumark, David & Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio, 2019. "U.S. job flows and the China shock," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 123-137.
    11. Unel, Bulent, 2018. "Offshoring and unemployment in a credit-constrained economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 21-33.
    12. Machikita, Tomohiro & Sato, Hitoshi, 2016. "A model of temporary and permanent jobs and trade," IDE Discussion Papers 655, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    13. Wilhelm Kohler & Jens Wrona, 2021. "Trade in tasks: Revisiting the wage and employment effects of offshoring," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 648-676, May.
    14. Körner, Konstantin, 2021. "The Wage Effects of Offshoring to the East and West: Evidence from Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 202115, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Priya Ranjan, 2014. "Globalization, Jobs, and Welfare: The Roles of Social Protection and Redistribution," Working Papers 141507, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    16. Bulent Unel, 2019. "A model of occupational choice, offshoring and immigration," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 267-289, February.
    17. Jiang, Zhe (Jasmine), 2023. "‘Multinational Firms’ Sourcing Decisions and Wage Inequality: A Dynamic Analysis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    18. Ranjan, Priya, 2016. "Globalization and risk averse workers: The roles of labor market and trade policies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 64-79.
    19. Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez & Miaojie Yu, 2017. "All-Around Trade Liberalization and Firm-Level Employment: Theory and Evidence from China," CESifo Working Paper Series 6710, CESifo.
    20. Liang Zhang & Bin Qiu & Xiaocong Xu & Shaoqin Sun, 2021. "Offshoring, Wages, and Skill Premiums: Firm‐level Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(5), pages 1-27, September.
    21. Nam T. Vu & Jiayu Wu, 2020. "International Effects of Stock Market Dispersion," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(4), pages 1393-1417, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heterogeneous firms; Offshoring costs; Search frictions; Unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

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