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Can deunionization lead to international outsourcing?

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We analyze unionized firms’ incentives to outsource intermediate goods production to foreign (low-cost) subcontractors. Such outsourcing leads to increased wages for the remaining in-house production. We find that stronger unions, which implies higher domestic wages, reduce incentives for international outsourcing. Though somewhat surprising, this results provides a theoretical reconciliation of the empirically observed trends of deunionization and increased international outsourcing in many countries. We further show that globalization — interpreted as either market integration or increased product market competition — will increase incentives for international outsourcing.

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  • Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Straume, Odd Rune, 2005. "Can deunionization lead to international outsourcing?," Working Papers in Economics 15/05, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:bergec:2005_015
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International outsourcing; Deunionization; Globalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures

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