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Does Material and Service Offshoring Improve Domestic Productivity? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing industries

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  • ITO Keiko
  • TANAKA Kiyoyasu

Abstract

An increasing number of manufacturers are shifting some stages of the production process offshore. This study investigates the effects of offshoring on productivity in Japanese manufacturing industries for the period 1988-2004. Material offshoring, as measured by an import share of intermediate material inputs, has steadily increased during the period, with a pronounced increase in offshoring to Asian countries. In a wide range of specifications, we find significantly positive correlations between material offshoring and productivity at the industry level. The estimates are particularly robust for offshoring to Asia. These results suggest that Japanese manufacturing firms have developed an extensive international division of labor in East Asia, which in turn may have enhanced domestic productivity. In contrast, service offshoring, as measured by an import ratio of service inputs, is not associated with industry-level productivity. We find a positive correlation between offshoring and productivity only for information services, suggesting that in this segment, offshoring offers potential benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • ITO Keiko & TANAKA Kiyoyasu, 2010. "Does Material and Service Offshoring Improve Domestic Productivity? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing industries," Discussion papers 10010, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:10010
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Merlevede & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2016. "Productivity effects from inter-industry offshoring and inshoring: Firm-level evidence from Belgium," FIW Working Paper series 165, FIW.
    2. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2015. "Service Trade and Productivity: Firm-level evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 15030, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Victor Stolzenburg & Daria Taglioni & Deborah Winkler, 2019. "Economic upgrading through global value chain participation: which policies increase the value-added gains?," Chapters, in: Stefano Ponte & Gary Gereffi & Gale Raj-Reichert (ed.), Handbook on Global Value Chains, chapter 30, pages 483-505, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. KWON Hyeog Ug, 2012. "Offshoring of Japanese Small and Medium Enterprises (Japanese)," Discussion Papers (Japanese) 12004, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Bernhard Michel & François Rycx, 2014. "Productivity Gains and Spillovers from Offshoring," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 73-85, February.
    6. Deborah Winkler & Thomas Farole, 2015. "Global Value Chain Integration and Productivity," World Bank Publications - Reports 23818, The World Bank Group.
    7. Lin, Songhua & Ma, Alyson C., 2012. "Outsourcing and productivity: Evidence from Korean data," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 39-49.
    8. Pablo Agnese, 2013. "Offshoring and productivity revisited: A Time-Series Analysis [Zur Debatte um Offshoring und Produktivität: Eine Zeitreihenanalyse]," Duesseldorf Working Papers in Applied Management and Economics 23, Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences.
    9. Agnese, Pablo, 2013. "Offshoring and Productivity Revisited: A Time-Series Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 7323, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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