IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/feemkt/9553.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Production Outsourcing, Organizational Governance and Firm's Technological Performance: Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Antonietti, Roberto
  • Cainelli, Giulio

Abstract

Aim of this paper is to study whether and how the firm's decision to outsource production activities affects its technological performance. In particular, we look at how the alignment between the firm's governance strategy and the underlying attributes of the transactions affects the capacity of the firm to introduce new products and processes. Using microeconomic data on a repeated cross-section of Italian manufacturing firms for the period 1998-2003, we develop a two-stage approach: first, we estimate the determinants of the firm's organizational governance (production outsourcing); second, we incorporate a measure of governance misalignment into a technological performance relation. We find (i) that firms not aligned with the optimal organizational governance perform less well in terms of process innovation than more aligned competitors, but (ii) that misalignment has a positive effect on product innovation. However, this counterintuitive result is strongly characterized by non-linear effects that reverse the latter correlation for high values of governance misfit. .

Suggested Citation

  • Antonietti, Roberto & Cainelli, Giulio, 2007. "Production Outsourcing, Organizational Governance and Firm's Technological Performance: Evidence from Italy," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 9553, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemkt:9553
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.9553
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/9553/files/wp070058.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.9553?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Tomiura, Eiichi, 2005. "Foreign outsourcing and firm-level characteristics: Evidence from Japanese manufacturers," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 255-271, June.
    3. Pol Antràs & Luis Garicano & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2006. "Offshoring in a Knowledge Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 121(1), pages 31-77.
    4. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2004. "Does Outsourcing Increase Profitability?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 267-288.
    5. Bernd Görzig & Andreas Stephan, 2002. "Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 309, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Carmen Díaz Mora, "undated". "DETERMINANTS OF OUTSOURCING PRODUCTION: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach for Manufacturing Industries," Working Papers on International Economics and Finance 05-07, FEDEA.
    7. Bartel, Ann & Lach, Saul & Sicherman, Nachum, 2005. "Outsourcing and Technological Change," CEPR Discussion Papers 5082, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Lyons, Bruce R., 1995. "Specific investment, economies of scale, and the make-or-buy decision: A test of transaction cost theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 431-443, May.
    9. Richard P. Rumelt, 1982. "Diversification strategy and profitability," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 359-369, October.
    10. Joskow, Paul L, 1988. "Asset Specificity and the Structure of Vertical Relationships: Empirical Evidence," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 95-117, Spring.
    11. David J. Teece, 2008. "Firm organization, industrial structure, and technological innovation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 11, pages 265-296, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Claire Lelarge & John Van Reenen & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2007. "Technology, Information, and the Decentralization of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 122(4), pages 1759-1799.
    13. 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.
    14. repec:hrv:faseco:4784031 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. 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.
    16. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February.
    17. Glass, Amy Jocelyn & Saggi, Kamal, 2001. "Innovation and wage effects of international outsourcing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 67-86, January.
    18. Mary Amiti & Shang-Jin Wei, 2006. "Service Offshoring and Productivity: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 11926, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. 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.
    20. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Sandro Montresor & Paolo Pini, 2009. "The General Profile of the Outsourcing Firm: Evidence for a Local Production System of Emilia Romagna," Chapters, in: Mario Morroni (ed.), Corporate Governance, Organization and the Firm, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Swenson, Deborah L, 2000. "Firm Outsourcing Decisions: Evidence from U.S. Foreign Trade Zones," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 175-189, April.
    22. Srinivasan Balakrishnan & Isaac Fox, 1993. "Abstract," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 3-16, January.
    23. Frédéric Dalsace & Michael J. Leiblein & Jeffrey J. Reuer, 2002. "Do make or buy decisions matter? The influence of organizational governance on technological performance," Post-Print hal-00457649, HAL.
    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. Fabio Pieri, 2018. "Vertical organization of production and firm growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 83-106.
    2. Fabio Pieri & Enrico Zaninotto, 2013. "Vertical integration and efficiency: an application to the Italian machine tool industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 397-416, February.
    3. Luca Ferrucci & Antonio Picciotti, 2017. "From economic dualism to local variety: The development of service industries in Italian regions," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 32(1), pages 14-33, February.
    4. 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.

    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. Ohnemus, Jörg, 2007. "Does IT Outsourcing Increase Firm Success? An Empirical Assessment using Firm-Level Data," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-087, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Antonietti, Roberto & Cainelli, Giulio, 2007. "Spatial Agglomeration, Technology and Outsourcing of Knowledge Intensive Business Services. Empirical Insights from Italy," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 8221, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. 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.
    4. Appiah-Adu, Kwaku & Okpattah, Bernard K. & Djokoto, Justice G., 2016. "Technology transfer, outsourcing, capability and performance: A comparison of foreign and local firms in Ghana," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 31-39.
    5. Dermot Leahy & Catia Montagna, 2006. "'Make-or-Buy' in International Oligopoly and the Role of Competitive Pressure," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 197, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    6. Dermot Leahy & Catia Montagna, 2011. "Economising, Strategising and the Decision to Outsource," Discussion Papers 11/17, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    7. 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.
    8. Spyros Arvanitis & Thomas Bolli & Tobias Stucki, 2017. "In or Out: How Insourcing Foreign Input Production Affects Domestic Production," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 879-907, December.
    9. C. D Mora & A. Triguero-Cano, 2012. "Why do some firms contract out production? Evidence from firm-level panel data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(13), pages 1631-1644, May.
    10. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2004. "Does Outsourcing Increase Profitability?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 267-288.
    11. R. Antonietti & D. Antonioli, 2007. "Conditional Leptokurtosis in Energy Prices: Multivariate Evidence from Futures Markets," Working Papers 594, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    12. Ohnemus, Jörg, 2009. "Productivity effects of business process outsourcing: a firm-level investigation based on panel data," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-088, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Carmen Díaz Mora, "undated". "DETERMINANTS OF OUTSOURCING PRODUCTION: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach for Manufacturing Industries," Working Papers on International Economics and Finance 05-07, FEDEA.
    14. Bartel, Ann & Lach, Saul & Sicherman, Nachum, 2008. "Outsourcing and Technological Innovations: A Firm-Level Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 6731, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. 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.
    16. Craig P. Aubuchon & Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & Sumon Bhaumik, 2012. "The extent and impact of outsourcing: evidence from Germany," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 94(July), pages 287-304.
    17. Alberto López, 2014. "Outsourcing and firm productivity: a production function approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 977-998, November.
    18. Charlie Karlsson & Gunther Maier & Michaela Trippl & Iulia Siedschlag & Gavin Murphy, 2010. "ICT and Regional Economic Dynamics: A Literature Review," JRC Research Reports JRC59920, Joint Research Centre (Seville site).
    19. Linares Navarro, E. & Pla Barber, J. & Puig Blanco, F, 2009. "La Estrategia De Outsourcing Internacional En España: Una Aproximación A Los Sectores Manufactureros Tradicionales / The Strategy Of International Outsourcing In Spain: An Approximation To The Traditi," Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa (IEDEE), Academia Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa (AEDEM), vol. 15(3), pages 55-67.
    20. Tomiura, Eiichi, 2005. "Foreign outsourcing and firm-level characteristics: Evidence from Japanese manufacturers," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 255-271, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies;

    JEL classification:

    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:ags:feemkt:9553. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.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.