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Equilibrium Unemployment with Outsourcing under Labour Market Imperfections

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  • Erkki Koskela
  • Rune Stenbacka

Abstract

We study the various consequences of and the incentives for outsourcing. We argue that the wage elasticity of labour demand increases as a function of the share of outsourcing, which is a result consistent with existing empirical research. Furthermore, we show that a production mode with a higher proportion of outsourcing activity reduces the negotiated wage in the high-wage country with an imperfectly competitive labour market so that outsourcing reduces equilibrium unemployment. Finally, we characterize the optimal production mode and show that stronger labour market imperfections lead to a production mode with a higher share of outsourcing.

Suggested Citation

  • Erkki Koskela & Rune Stenbacka, 2007. "Equilibrium Unemployment with Outsourcing under Labour Market Imperfections," CESifo Working Paper Series 1892, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1892
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    Cited by:

    1. Riedl, Maximilian, 2013. "Wage bargaining, job loss fears and offshoring," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 174, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    2. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Straume, Odd Rune, 2012. "North–South technology transfer in unionised multinationals," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 385-395.
    3. Koskela, Erkki & Stenbacka, Rune, 2010. "Equilibrium unemployment with outsourcing and wage solidarity under labour market imperfections," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 376-392, April.
    4. Jan König & Erkki Koskela, 2013. "The Role of Profit Sharing in Dual Labour Markets with Flexible Outsourcing," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(4), pages 351-370, December.
    5. Lutz Arnold & Stefanie Trepl, 2015. "A North-South Trade Model of Offshoring and Unemployment," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 999-1039, November.
    6. Horgos Daniel, 2012. "International Outsourcing and Wage Rigidity," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28, June.
    7. Erkki Koskela & Panu Poutvaara, 2008. "Flexible Outsourcing and the Impacts of Labour Taxation in European Welfare States," CESifo Working Paper Series 2440, CESifo.
    8. Joan Muysken & Ehsan Vallizadeh & Thomas Ziesemer, 2015. "Migration, Unemployment, and Skill Downgrading," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 117(2), pages 403-451, April.
    9. Erkki Koskela, 2009. "Impacts of Labor Taxation with Perfectly and Imperfectly Competitive Domestic Labor Markets under Flexible Outsourcing," CESifo Working Paper Series 2852, CESifo.
    10. Böckerman, Petri & Riihimäki, Elisa, 2009. "International outsourcing and labour demand: Evidence from Finnish firm-level data," MPRA Paper 16903, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Marco de Pinto & Jörg Lingens, 2014. "Unionization, Information Asymmetry and the De-location of Firms," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201412, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    12. Amegashie, J. Atsu & Ouattara, Bazoumanna & Strobl, Eric, 2007. "Moral Hazard and the Composition of Transfers: Theory with an Application to Foreign Aid," MPRA Paper 3158, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 May 2007.
    13. Jan König & Erkki Koskela, 2011. "Does International Outsourcing Really Lower Workers’ Income?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 21-38, March.
    14. Erkki Koskela, 2010. "Outsourcing Cost and Tax Progression under Nash Wage Bargaining with Flexible Outsourcing," CESifo Working Paper Series 3142, CESifo.
    15. Erkki Koskela & Panu Poutvaara, 2008. "Outsourcing and Labor Taxation in Dual Labor Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 2333, CESifo.
    16. Matsuoka, Yuji & Fukushima, Marcelo, 2010. "Time zones, shift working and international outsourcing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 769-778, October.
    17. Koskela, Erkki & König, Jan, 2009. "Can Profit Sharing Lower Flexible Outsourcing? A Note," IZA Discussion Papers 4063, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Ho, Wai-Ming, 2021. "International outsourcing, exchange rates, and monetary policy☆," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    19. Erkki Koskela & Jan König, 2008. "Flexible Outsourcing, Profit Sharing and Equilibrium Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series 2382, CESifo.
    20. Pi, Jiancai & Fan, Yanwei, 2021. "The impact of robots on equilibrium unemployment of unionized workers," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 663-675.
    21. Marco de Pinto & Jörg Lingens, 2019. "Unionization, information asymmetry and the de‐location of firms," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 1782-1823, November.
    22. Simontini Das & Ajitava Raychaudhuri & Saikat Sinha Roy, 2012. "Immigration Versus Outsourcing: A Developing Country¡¯S View," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 109-138, June.
    23. José Ramón García & Valeri Sorolla, 2014. "Monopolistic Competition and Different Wage Setting Systems," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 61(1), pages 48-77, February.
    24. Giuseppe Bognetti & Michele Santoni, 2010. "Can domestic unions gain from offshoring?," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 51-67, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    outsourcing; labour market imperfections; equilibrium unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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