IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/diw/diwwpp/dp309.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Bernd Görzig
  • Andreas Stephan

Abstract

Using firm-level panel data from the German cost structure survey over the period 1992 to 2000, our empirical analysis shows that firms that increased material inputs relative to internal labor costs performed better in terms of gross operating surplus than other firms. However, firms that increased external services relative to internal labor costs, thus outsourcing service functions previously provided within the firm, performed worse. In sum, our findings support the view that firms tend to overestimate the benefits accruing from outsourcing of services previously provided internally.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernd Görzig & Andreas Stephan, 2002. "Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 309, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.38487.de/dp309.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brenner, Steffen & Bunke, Olaf & Droge, Bernd & Schwalbach, Joachim, 2001. "The relative importance of group-level effects on the performance of German companies," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 2001,95, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    2. Elizabeth Webster, 1999. "The Economics of Intangible Investment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1530.
    3. Fixler, Dennis J. & Siegel, Donald, 1999. "Outsourcing and productivity growth in services," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 177-194, June.
    4. Abraham, Katharine G & Taylor, Susan K, 1996. "Firms' Use of Outside Contractors: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 394-424, July.
    5. Almas Heshmati, 2003. "Productivity Growth, Efficiency and Outsourcing in Manufacturing and Service Industries," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 79-112, February.
    6. van Schaik, Anton B. T. M. & de Groot, Henri L. F., 2002. "Macroeconomic consequences of downsizing," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 331-352, May.
    7. Williamson, Oliver E, 1971. "The Vertical Integration of Production: Market Failure Considerations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 112-123, May.
    8. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2002. "Integration versus Outsourcing in Industry Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 85-120.
    9. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    10. Alfred Kleinknecht & Pierre Mohnen (ed.), 2002. "Innovation and Firm Performance," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-59588-0.
    11. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Catherine J. Morrison Paul & Mahmut Yasar, 2009. "Outsourcing, productivity, and input composition at the plant level," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(2), pages 422-439, May.
    2. G. Rossini, 2004. "Vertical integration in a stochastic framework and a nonsymmetric bargaining equilibrium," Working Papers 527, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    3. Michele Moretto & Gianpaolo Rossini, 2008. "Vertical Integration and Operational Flexibility," Working Papers 2008.37, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    4. Almas Heshmati, 2003. "Productivity Growth, Efficiency and Outsourcing in Manufacturing and Service Industries," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 79-112, February.
    5. R. Antonietti & D. Antonioli, 2007. "Production offshoring and the skill composition of Italian manufacturing firms A quasi-experimental analysis," Working Papers 593, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    6. G. Rossini, 2005. "Pitfalls in private and social incentives of vertical crossborder outsourcing," Working Papers 536, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    7. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2004. "Does Outsourcing Increase Profitability?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 267-288.
    8. G. Rossini & L. Lambertini, 2003. "Endogeneous outsourcing and vertical integration with process R&D," Working Papers 487, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. Christian Ruzzier & Ricard Gil, 2015. "’Make or Buy’ as Competitive Strategy: Evidence from the Spanish Local TV Industry," Working Papers 119, Universidad de San Andres, Departamento de Economia, revised Feb 2015.
    10. Lambertini, Luca, 2010. "Make vs buy in a monopoly with demand or cost uncertainty," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 101-109, June.
    11. Roberto Cellini & Luca Lambertini, 2007. "The Make-or-Buy Choice in a Mixed Oligopoly: A Theoretical Investigation," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 97(3), pages 113-132, May-June.
    12. G. Rossini & L. Vici, 2007. "Vertical integration, disintegration and ability to export," Working Papers 592, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    13. L. Lambertini & G. Rossini, 2003. "Vertical Integration and Differentiation in an Oligopoly with Process Innovating R&D," Working Papers 468, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    14. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & Luis Carlos Castillo-Téllez & Dilek Demirbas & Mustafa Disli, 2021. "Foreign Trade, Education, And Innovative Performance: A Multilevel Analysis," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 24(3), pages 413-440.
    15. McLaren, John, 1999. "Supplier relations and the market context: A theory of handshakes," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 121-138, June.
    16. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2005. "From sectoral to functional urban specialisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 343-370, March.
    17. Roberto Antonietti, 2016. "From outsourcing to productivity, passing through training: microeconometric evidence from Italy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 407-425, July.
    18. Alberto López, 2014. "Outsourcing and firm productivity: a production function approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 977-998, November.
    19. Henk L.M. Kox, 2003. "Sources of structural growth in business services," Industrial Organization 0309004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Williamson, Oliver E., 2007. "Transaction Cost Economics: An Introduction," Economics Discussion Papers 2007-3, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Outsourcing; Firm Performance; Business Service Sector.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/diwbede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.