IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/scotjp/v57y2010i2p119-144.html

Contracting Out, Public Policy And Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Simon C. Parker

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the impact of public policies on the decisions of firms to contract out parts of their production, despite widespread growth in this practice. The present paper uses a simple principal‐agent model to explore the effects of various public policies which affect employers' incentives to outsource by re‐grading their employees as independent self‐employed contractors. Minimum wages are predicted to increase contracting out, as are payroll and income taxes under several plausible conditions, including worker preferences exhibiting constant relative risk aversion.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon C. Parker, 2010. "Contracting Out, Public Policy And Entrepreneurship," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 57(2), pages 119-144, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:57:y:2010:i:2:p:119-144
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9485.2010.00510.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.2010.00510.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9485.2010.00510.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bennett Harrison & Maryellen R. Kelley, 1993. "Outsourcing and the Search for `Flexibility'," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 7(2), pages 213-235, June.
    2. Susan N. Houseman, 2001. "Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(1), pages 149-170, October.
    3. repec:bla:econom:v:63:y:1996:i:251:p:459-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mark Stabile, 2004. "Payroll Taxes and the Decision to be Self-Employed," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(1), pages 31-53, January.
    5. Hans-Werner Sinn, 1996. "Social insurance, incentives and risk taking," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 3(3), pages 259-280, July.
    6. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    7. Kesselman, Jonathan R., 1989. "Income tax evasion : An intersectoral analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 137-182, March.
    8. Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Entrepreneurship: a weak link in the welfare state?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(3), pages 437-467, June.
    9. 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.
    10. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1979. "A General Equilibrium Entrepreneurial Theory of Firm Formation Based on Risk Aversion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(4), pages 719-748, August.
    11. Jakob Munch & Jan Skaksen, 2009. "Specialization, outsourcing and wages," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(1), pages 57-73, April.
    12. Brewster, Chris & Mayne, Lesley & Tregaskis, Olga, 1997. "Flexible working in Europe," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 133-151, July.
    13. Torrini, Roberto, 2005. "Cross-country differences in self-employment rates: the role of institutions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 661-683, October.
    14. Simon C. Parker & Martin T. Robson, 2004. "Explaining International Variations in Self-Employment: Evidence from a Panel of OECD Countries," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 287-301, October.
    15. Roodhooft, Filip & Warlop, Luk, 1999. "On the role of sunk costs and asset specificity in outsourcing decisions: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 363-369, May.
    16. David H. Autor, 2003. "Outsourcing at Will: The Contribution of Unjust Dismissal Doctrine to the Growth of Employment Outsourcing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-42, January.
    17. Garen, John, 2006. "Use of employees and alternative work arrangements in the United States: a law, economics, and organizations perspective," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 107-141, February.
    18. Gruber, Jonathan, 1997. "The Incidence of Payroll Taxation: Evidence from Chile," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 72-101, July.
    19. Blau, David M, 1987. "A Time-Series Analysis of Self-employment in the United State," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(3), pages 445-467, June.
    20. Clemens Fuest & Bernd Huber & Søren Bo Nielsen, "undated". "Why Is the Corporate Tax Rate Lower than the Personal Tax Rate?," EPRU Working Paper Series 00-17, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    21. René Böheim & Ulrike Muehlberger, 2006. "Dependent Forms of Self-employment in the UK: Identifying Workers on the Border between Employment and Self-Employment," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp091, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    22. Thijs Raa & Edward Wolff, 2001. "Outsourcing of Services and the Productivity Recovery in U.S. Manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 149-165, September.
    23. Cynthia L. Gramm & John F. Schnell, 2001. "The Use of Flexible Staffing Arrangements in Core Production Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 245-258, January.
    24. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 745-778, September.
    25. Simon C. Parker, 2003. "The distribution of wealth of older self-employed Britons," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 23-43, March.
    26. Kanbur, S. M., 1981. "Risk taking and taxation : An alternative perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 163-184, April.
    27. Erin Anderson & David C. Schmittlein, 1984. "Integration of the Sales Force: An Empirical Examination," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(3), pages 385-395, Autumn.
    28. Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1994. "The Firm as an Incentive System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 972-991, September.
    29. Arindrajit Dube & Ethan Kaplan, 2010. "Does Outsourcing Reduce Wages in the Low-Wage Service Occupations? Evidence from Janitors and Guards," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 287-306, January.
    30. Schuetze, Herb J., 2000. "Taxes, economic conditions and recent trends in male self-employment: a Canada-US comparison," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 507-544, September.
    31. Rogerson, William P, 1985. "Repeated Moral Hazard," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(1), pages 69-76, January.
    32. Amy Jocelyn Glassa & Kamal Saggi, 2023. "Innovation and wage effects of international outsourcing," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kamal Saggi (ed.), Technology Transfer, Foreign Direct Investment, and the Protection of Intellectual Property in the Global Economy, chapter 2, pages 33-52, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    33. 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.
    34. 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.
    35. repec:bla:econom:v:50:y:1983:i:197:p:35-48 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Jonathan Heskel, 1999. "Small Firms, Contracting‐out, Computers and Wage Inequality: Evidence from UK Manufacturing," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 66(261), pages 1-21, February.
    37. Barton H. Hamilton, 2000. "Does Entrepreneurship Pay? An Empirical Analysis of the Returns to Self-Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(3), pages 604-631, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Román, Concepción & Congregado, Emilio & Millán, José María, 2013. "Start-up incentives: Entrepreneurship policy or active labour market programme?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 151-175.
    2. Ganserer, Angelika & Gregory, Terry & Zierahn, Ulrich, 2022. "Minimum wages and the rise in solo self-employment," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-024, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Nikolaos Filippopoulos & Georgios Fotopoulos, 2024. "Employment protection and regional self-employment rates in an economic downturn: a multilevel analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(2), pages 617-646, February.
    4. Nachiket Bhawe & Shaker A. Zahra & Chen Chao & Garry D. Bruton, 2021. "Protectionist policies and diversity of entrepreneurial types," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 789-807, February.
    5. repec:ces:ifodic:v:14:y:2016:i:3:p:19255698 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ana Millán & José María Millán & Concepción Román, 2016. "The Role of Start-up Incentives on Entrepreneurship Dynamics in a Post-Crisis Era: Evidence from European Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(3), pages 29-35, October.
    7. Mikael Stenkula, 2012. "Taxation and entrepreneurship in a welfare state," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 77-97, July.
    8. Lukas Held & Andrea M. Herrmann & Allard Mossel, 2018. "Team formation processes in new ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 441-464, August.
    9. Concepción Román & Emilio Congregado & José Millán, 2011. "Dependent self-employment as a way to evade employment protection legislation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 363-392, October.
    10. Ana Millán & José María Millán & Concepción Román, 2016. "The Role of Start-up Incentives on Entrepreneurship Dynamics in a Post-Crisis Era: Evidence from European Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(03), pages 29-35, October.

    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. Mikael Stenkula, 2012. "Taxation and entrepreneurship in a welfare state," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 77-97, July.
    3. Orkhan Nadirov & Bruce Dehning, 2020. "Tax Progressivity and Entrepreneurial Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-21, April.
    4. Emilio Congregado & Antonio A. Golpe & Vicente Esteve, 2019. "On the Substitutability between Paid-employment and Self-employment: Evidence from the Period 1969–2014 in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Concepción Román & Emilio Congregado & José Millán, 2011. "Dependent self-employment as a way to evade employment protection legislation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 363-392, October.
    6. Jean-François Wen & Daniel V. Gordon, 2014. "An Empirical Model of Tax Convexity and Self-Employment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(3), pages 471-482, July.
    7. John S. Heywood & W.S. Siebert & Xiangdong Wei, 2011. "Estimating the Use of Agency Workers: Can Family-Friendly Practices Reduce Their Use?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 535-564, July.
    8. Becker, Sascha O. & Hvide, Hans K., "undated". "Do entrepreneurs matter?," Economic Research Papers 270547, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    9. Pekka Ilmakunnas & Vesa Kanniainen, 2001. "Entrepreneurship, Economic Risks, and Risk Insurance in the Welfare State: Results with OECD Data 1978–93," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 2(3), pages 195-218, August.
    10. Frank M. Fossen, 2012. "Risk Attitudes and Private Business Equity," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1209, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Joseph Pelzman, 2013. "“Womb for Rent”: International Service Trade Employing Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ARTs)," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 387-400, August.
    12. Smirnykh, Larisa & Wörgötter, Andreas, 2019. "The importance of institutional and organizational characteristics for the use of fixed-term contracts in Russia," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 24(1), pages 89-121.
    13. Francesco Devicienti & Paolo Naticchioni & Andrea Ricci, 2015. "How Do Demand Volatility And Unions Affect Temporary Employment? A Firm-Level Approach," Working Papers 0415, CREI Università degli Studi Roma Tre, revised 2015.
    14. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Jean-François Wen, 2008. "Redistribution and entrepreneurship with Schumpeterian growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 57-80, March.
    15. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2004. "Outsourcing, Foreign Ownership, and Productivity: Evidence from UK Establishment‐level Data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 817-832, November.
    16. Peter van der Zwan & Ingrid Verheul & Roy Thurik & Isabel Grilo, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Progress: Climbing the Entrepreneurial Ladder in Europe and the US," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-070/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 17 Mar 2010.
    17. Ana Venâncio & Victor Barros & Clara Raposo, 2022. "Corporate taxes and high-quality entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 353-382, January.
    18. Ross Levine & Yona Rubinstein, 2018. "Selection into Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment," NBER Working Papers 25350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Peter Cappelli & J. R. Keller, 2012. "A Study of the Extent and Potential Causes of Alternative Employment Arrangements," NBER Working Papers 18376, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2004. "Does Outsourcing Increase Profitability?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 267-288.

    More about this item

    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:bla:scotjp:v:57:y:2010:i:2:p:119-144. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sesssea.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.