IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bbk/bbkefp/0402.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

In Search of ‘Offshoring’: Evidence from U.S. Imports of Services

Author

Listed:
  • Desirée Van Welsum

    (Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics, Birkbeck)

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between imports of services by the United States and the international sourcing of services production activities using a number of different panel data estimators for a number of different categories of services. A conventional import demand relationship is augmented by measures of the activity of foreign-owned affiliates in the US and USowned service sector affiliates in other countries. There is a clear effect from production relocation on US imports of services. Outward investment in US-owned service sector affiliates is found to have a positive impact on import volumes. This is consistent with what might be expected if one motivation for such investments is to internationally source activities previously undertaken within the United States. Inward investment in the US service sector is found to reduce imports of services, other things being equal, pointing to substitution of trade and investment in services. However, inward investment in non-service sectors is found to stimulate imports of services, indicating complementarity at the aggregate level.

Suggested Citation

  • Desirée Van Welsum, 2004. "In Search of ‘Offshoring’: Evidence from U.S. Imports of Services," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 0402, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bbk:bbkefp:0402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/27104
    File Function: First version, 2004
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ray Barrell & Nigel Pain, 1997. "The Growth of Foreign Direct Investment in Europe," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 160(1), pages 63-75, April.
    2. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    3. Juann H. Hung & Sandra Viana, 1995. "Modelling U.S. services trade flows: a cointegration-ECM approach," Research Paper 9518, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2003. "Outsourcing Versus FDI in Industry Equilibrium," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 317-327, 04/05.
    5. Bruce A. Blonigen, 2019. "In Search of Substitution Between Foreign Production and Exports," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 9, pages 293-323, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Smith, Ron, 1995. "Estimating long-run relationships from dynamic heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 79-113, July.
    7. Morris Goldstein & Mohsin S. Khan, 2017. "Income and Price Effects in Foreign Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: TRADE CURRENCIES AND FINANCE, chapter 1, pages 3-81, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Joseph E. Gagnon, 2007. "Productive Capacity, Product Varieties, and the Elasticities Approach to the Trade Balance," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 639-659, September.
    9. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2005. "Outsourcing in a Global Economy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(1), pages 135-159.
    10. Basile, Roberto, 2001. "Export behaviour of Italian manufacturing firms over the nineties: the role of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1185-1201, October.
    11. Reinert, Kenneth A. & Roland-Holst, David W., 1992. "Armington elasticities for United States manufacturing sectors," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 631-639, October.
    12. Joseph E. Gagnon, 2003. "Long-run supply effects and the elasticities approach to trade," International Finance Discussion Papers 754, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Catherine L. Mann, 2004. "The US Current Account, New Economy Services, and Implications for Sustainability," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 262-276, May.
    14. Barrell Ray & Willem te Velde Dirk, 2002. "European Integration and Manufactures Import Demand: An Empirical Investigation of Ten European Countries," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 263-294, August.
    15. Brainard, S Lael, 1997. "An Empirical Assessment of the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off between Multinational Sales and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 520-544, September.
    16. Donghui Li & Fariborz Moshirian & Ah‐Boon Sim, 2003. "The Determinants of Intra‐Industry Trade in Insurance Services," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 269-287, June.
    17. Caroline Freund & Diana Weinhold, 2002. "The Internet and International Trade in Services," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 236-240, May.
    18. Nigel Pain & Desirée van Welsum, 2005. "International Production Relocation and Exports of Services," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2004(1), pages 67-94.
    19. Yongcheol Shin & Ron P Smith & Mohammad Hashem Pesaran, 1998. "Pooled Mean Group Estimation of Dynamic Heterogeneous Panels," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 16, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    20. Catherine L. Mann, 2003. "Globalization of IT Services and White Collar Jobs: The Next Wave of Productivity Growth," Policy Briefs PB03-11, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    21. Pain, Nigel & Wakelin, Katharine, 1998. "Export Performance and the Role of Foreign Direct Investment," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 66(0), pages 62-88, Supplemen.
    22. Barrell, Ray & Pain, Nigel, 1997. "Foreign Direct Investment, Technological Change, and Economic Growth within Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1770-1786, November.
    23. Abdelhak Senhadji, 1998. "Time-Series Estimation of Structural Import Demand Equations: A Cross-Country Analysis," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 45(2), pages 236-268, June.
    24. repec:pri:wwseco:dp218 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Lael Brainard & Robert Litan, 2004. "Outsourcing, Offshoring - Service Offshoring: Bane or Boon and What to Do?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 5(02), pages 3-7, October.
    26. Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson, 1999. "Explaining Armington: What Determines Substitutability Between Home and Foreign Goods?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 1-21, February.
    27. Marquez, Jaime, 1994. "The Econometrics of Elasticities or the Elasticity of Econometrics: An Empirical Analysis of the Behavior of U.S. Imports," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(3), pages 471-481, August.
    28. Houthakker, Hendrik S & Magee, Stephen P, 1969. "Income and Price Elasticities in World Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(2), pages 111-125, May.
    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. Desireé van Welsum & Xavier Reif, 2009. "We Can Work It Out: The Globalization of ICT-Enabled Services," NBER Chapters, in: International Trade in Services and Intangibles in the Era of Globalization, pages 289-325, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ad van Riet & Moreno Roma, 2006. "Competition, productivity and prices in the euro area services sector," Occasional Paper Series 44, European Central Bank.

    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. Rosario Crinò, 2009. "Offshoring, Multinationals And Labour Market: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 197-249, April.
    2. Jean Imbs & Isabelle Mejean, 2015. "Elasticity Optimism," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 43-83, July.
    3. Griffith, Rachel & Redding, Stephen & Simpson, Helen, 2002. "Productivity Convergence and Foreign Ownership at the Establishment Level," CEPR Discussion Papers 3765, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Makram El‐Shagi & William C. Sawyer & Kiril Tochkov, 2022. "The income elasticity of import demand: A meta‐survey," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 18-41, February.
    5. Carmen Fillat-Castej—n & Joseph Francois & Julia Woerz, 2008. "TRADE THROUGH FDI: investing in services," IIDE Discussion Papers 20080502, Institue for International and Development Economics.
    6. Bulent Esiyok, 2015. "Does Inward Foreign Direct Investment Increase Imports To Turkey? An Instrumental Variables Approach," Journal Articles, Center For Economic Analyses, pages 23-35, June.
    7. Adolfo Maza & Paula Gutiérrez-Portilla, 2022. "Outward FDI and exports relation: A heterogeneous panel approach dealing with cross-sectional dependence," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 170, pages 174-189.
    8. Mariam Camarero & Cecilio Tamarit, 2003. "Estimating exports and imports demand for Manufactured goods: The role of FDI," European Economy Group Working Papers 22, European Economy Group.
    9. Chrysovalantou Milliou & Joel Sandonis, 2016. "Vertical Foreign Direct Investment: Make, Sell and (Not) Buy," CESifo Working Paper Series 6190, CESifo.
    10. Grossman, Gene M. & Helpman, Elhanan & Szeidl, Adam, 2006. "Optimal integration strategies for the multinational firm," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 216-238, September.
    11. Abhijit Das & Rashmi Banga & Dinesh Kumar, 2011. "Global Economic Crisis : Impact and Restructuring of the Services Sector in India," Microeconomics Working Papers 23225, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    12. Lileeva, Alla, 2006. "Liaisons globales - Les avantages de l'investissement direct de l'étranger pour les établissements sous contrôle canadien : le rôle des liens verticaux," L'économie canadienne en transition 2006010f, Statistics Canada, Division de l'analyse économique.
    13. Antrà s, Pol & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2014. "Multinational Firms and the Structure of International Trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 55-130, Elsevier.
    14. Santos-Paulino, Amelia U., 2002. "The Effects of Trade Liberalization on Imports in Selected Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 959-974, June.
    15. Amiti, Mary & Wakelin, Katharine, 2003. "Investment liberalization and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 101-126, October.
    16. Lundan, Sarianna M., 2007. "The Home Country Effects of Internationalisation," Discussion Papers 1100, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    17. Menzie D. Chinn, 2005. "Supply Capacity, Vertical Specialization and Tariff Rates: The Implications for Aggregate U.S. Trade Flow Equations," NBER Working Papers 11719, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Sabine Stephan, 2007. "A re-assessment of German import demand," IMK Working Paper 08-2007, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    19. Alla Lileeva, 2010. "The benefits to domestically owned plants from inward direct investment: the role of vertical linkages," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 574-603, May.
    20. repec:pri:wwseco:dp225 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Elvira Sapienza, 2009. "The interaction between Export and FDI: Central-Eastern Europe and EU15," Quaderni DSEMS 13-2009, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Matematiche e Statistiche, Universita' di Foggia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinationals; foreign direct investment; imports of services; GATS modes of supply; global sourcing; offshoring and international outsourcing; panel data estimation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    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:bbk:bbkefp:0402. 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: the person in charge The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask the person in charge to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/departments/ems/ .

    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.