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Offshoring in the service sector : economic impact and policy issues

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  • C. Alan Garner
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    Abstract

    The United States continues to run an international trade surplus in services, but business stories frequently appear about service-sector jobs moving offshore. Many Americans are particularly concerned about the loss of skilled, well-paid jobs in such fields as computer programming and accounting. These jobs seemed relatively secure at a time when many manufacturing jobs were being lost to import competition. Similarly, telephone call centers, once viewed as an economic development opportunity in some areas, increasingly are moving to low-wage countries, such as India and the Philippines. Reflecting this growing concern, some members of Congress and state legislators have focused attention on the offshoring of service jobs and production, even introducing legislation to limit the outsourcing of jobs to other countries. Offshoring raises many questions for policymakers and the general public. For example, which service jobs will be affected most by import competition? What are the most likely effects of service-sector offshoring on U.S. output, employment, and, most important, our standard of living? Is offshoring really a problem that requires restrictive government actions, or are other kinds of policies more appropriate to give Americans the highest possible living standard? ; Garner examines the economic effects of offshoring and possible policy responses. He finds that although the offshoring of service jobs hurts some workers, offshoring should not permanently lower U.S. employment or production. ; Moreover, the average living standard can benefit over the long run if the nation adopts policies to retrain displaced workers and move them into expanding industries.

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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in its journal Economic Review.

    Volume (Year): (2004)
    Issue (Month): Q III ()
    Pages: 5-37

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    Handle: RePEc:fip:fedker:y:2004:i:qiii:p:5-37:n:v.89no.3

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    Related research

    Keywords: Service industries;

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    Citations

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    Cited by:
    1. Stacey L. Schreft & Aarti Singh & Ashley Hodgson, 2005. "Jobless recoveries and the wait-and-see hypothesis," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Q IV, pages 81-99.
    2. Brown, Clair & Linden, Greg, 2005. "Offshoring in the Semiconductor Industry: Historical Perspectives," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt0wv0k78t, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    3. Rosario Crinò, 2007. "Service Offshoring and White-Collar Employment," CESifo Working Paper Series 2040, CESifo Group Munich.
    4. Brown, Clair & Linden, Greg, 2007. "Semiconductor Engineers in a Global Economy," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt6fr9b2p9, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    5. repec:pra:mprapa:6437 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Baldwin, John R. Gu, Wulong, 2008. "Outsourcing and Offshoring in Canada," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2008055e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    7. Runjuan Liu & Daniel Trefler, 2008. "Much Ado About Nothing: American Jobs and the Rise of Service Outsourcing to China and India," NBER Working Papers 14061, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, 2007. "Offshoring, Outsourcing, and Production Relocation—Labor-Market Effects in the OECD Countries and Developing Asia," Working Paper Series WP07-2, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    9. Václav Žďárek, 2009. "Modern methods of production and foreign direct investment," Politická ekonomie, University of Economics, Prague, vol. 2009(4), pages 509-543.

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