IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/10697.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Overseas Assembly and Country Sourcing Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Deborah L. Swenson

Abstract

This paper studies the cross-country pattern of U.S. overseas assembly activities between 1980 and 2000 to examine how outsourcing decisions are affected by changes in country and competitor costs. A number of interesting regularities emerge. When a country's costs rise, the share of U.S. overseas assembly activities in that location decline. Conversely, a country's share of U.S. overseas assembly activities grows when competitor country costs increase. While own and competitor country costs affect overseas assembly in all countries, the magnitude of these effects is larger for developing countries than it is for developed countries. In many cases, the measured responses to cost changes appear to correspond with outsourcing theories that are based on search and customization costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah L. Swenson, 2004. "Overseas Assembly and Country Sourcing Choices," NBER Working Papers 10697, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10697
    Note: ITI
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w10697.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David L. Hummels & Georg Schaur, 2013. "Time as a Trade Barrier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2935-2959, December.
    2. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson & Deborah L. Swenson, 2000. "Offshore Assembly from the United States: Production Characteristics of the 9802 Program," NBER Chapters,in: The Impact of International Trade on Wages, pages 85-125 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lee, Jong-Wha & Barro, Robert J, 2001. "Schooling Quality in a Cross-Section of Countries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(272), pages 465-488, November.
    4. John McLaren, 2000. ""Globalization" and Vertical Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1239-1254, December.
    5. Holger Görg, 2000. "Fragmentation and trade: US inward processing trade in the EU," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 136(3), pages 403-422, September.
    6. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Peter K. Schott, 2002. "Survival of the Best Fit: Competition from Low Wage Countries and the (Uneven) Growth of US Manufacturing Plants," NBER Working Papers 9170, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Robert C. Feenstra, 1997. "The Effects of U.S. Trade Protection and Promotion Policies," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number feen97-1.
    8. Carolyn L. Evans & James Harrigan, 2003. "Distance, time, and specialization," International Finance Discussion Papers 766, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Andrew B Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 2007. "Firm Structure, Multinationals, and Manufacturing Plant Deaths," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(2), pages 193-204, May.
    10. Richard Baldwin & Paul Krugman, 1989. "Persistent Trade Effects of Large Exchange Rate Shocks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 104(4), pages 635-654.
    11. Head, Keith & Ries, John, 2002. "Offshore production and skill upgrading by Japanese manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 81-105, October.
    12. Robert C. Feenstra, 1998. "Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 31-50, Fall.
    13. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Knetter, Michael M., 1999. "Measuring the intensity of competition in export markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, February.
    14. Baldwin, Richard, 1988. "Hyteresis in Import Prices: The Beachhead Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(4), pages 773-785, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Qiu, Larry D. & Spencer, Barbara J., 2002. "Keiretsu and relationship-specific investment: implications for market-opening trade policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 49-79, October.
    17. Tibor Besedes & Thomas J. Prusa, 2003. "On the Duration of Trade," NBER Working Papers 9936, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Deardorff, A.V., 1998. "Fragmentation Across Cones," Working Papers 427, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    19. Greenhut, M L & Ohta, H, 1979. "Vertical Integration of Successive Oligopolists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 137-141, March.
    20. Gordon H. Hanson & Raymond J. Mataloni & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2005. "Vertical Production Networks in Multinational Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 664-678, November.
    21. Kei-Mu Yi, 2003. "Can Vertical Specialization Explain the Growth of World Trade?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 52-102, February.
    22. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    23. Avinash Dixit, 1989. "Hysteresis, Import Penetration, and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 104(2), pages 205-228.
    24. repec:rus:hseeco:121605 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Gordon H. Hanson, 1997. "The Effects of Offshore Assembly on Industry Location: Evidence from U.S. Border Cities," NBER Chapters,in: The Effects of U.S. Trade Protection and Promotion Policies, pages 297-322 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Deborah L. Swenson, 1996. "Explaining Domestic Content: Evidence from Japanese and U.S. Auto Production in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 5495, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
    28. Mendez, JoseA., 1993. "The welfare effects of repealing the U.S. Offshore Assembly Provision," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 1-22, February.
    29. David A. Riker & S. Lael Brainard, 1997. "U.S. Multinationals and Competition from Low Wage Countries," NBER Working Papers 5959, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Amador, João & Cabral, Sónia, 2008. "International fragmentation of production in the Portuguese economy: What do different measures tell us?," MPRA Paper 9783, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Amador, João & Cabral, Sónia, 2009. "Vertical specialization across the world: A relative measure," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 267-280, December.
    3. Ravi Batra & Hamid Beladi, 2010. "A Simple Two-Sector Model of Outsourcing," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 64-73, February.
    4. Deborah Swenson, 2005. "Outsourcing Price Decisions: Evidence from U.S. 9802 Imports," NBER Working Papers 11184, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Rosa Forte & António Brandão, 2008. "Effects of Adverse Selection on a Multinational Firm’s Decision on where to Subcontract," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 133-146, June.
    6. Sam Tavassoli & Babak Kianian & Tobias C. Larsson, 2015. "Manufacturing renaissance: return of manufacturing to western countries," Chapters,in: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy, chapter 11, pages 261-280 Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Amador, João & Cabral, Sónia, 2014. "Global value chains: surveying drivers and measures," Working Paper Series 1739, European Central Bank.
    8. Witada Anukoonwattaka, 2007. "Outsourcing and International Production of a Multinational: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Evidence from Toyota, Thailand," DEGIT Conference Papers c012_045, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    9. Deborah L. Swenson, 2007. "Competition and the location of overseas assembly," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 155-175, February.
    10. Yushi Yoshida, 2005. "Outsourcing of Intermediate Manufacturing Products in Asian Economies," Discussion Papers 21, Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Economics.
    11. Shalah M. Mostashari, 2011. "Vertical specialization, intermediate tariffs, and the pattern of trade: assessing the role of tariff liberalization to U.S. bilateral trade 1989-2001," Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper 71, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    12. Emek Basker & Pham Hoang Van, 2005. "Putting a Smiley Face on the Dragon: Wal-Mart as Catalyst to U.S.-China Trade," Working Papers 0506, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, revised 07 Oct 2005.
    13. Díez, Federico J., 2014. "The asymmetric effects of tariffs on intra-firm trade and offshoring decisions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 76-91.
    14. Amit Ghosh, 2009. "Implications of production sharing on exchange rate pass-through," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 334-345.
    15. Olivier Sautel, 2007. "L'évolution de la théorie des contrats incomplets face à la dé-intégration verticale," Revue d'économie industrielle, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 5-5.
    16. Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2011. "Production sharing and trade flows: A comparative analysis of Japan and the US," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 383-397, October.
    17. Ekholm, Karolina & Moxnes, Andreas & Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene, 2012. "Manufacturing restructuring and the role of real exchange rate shocks," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 101-117.
    18. Marcella Nicolini, 2007. "Institutions and Offshoring Decision," CESifo Working Paper Series 2074, CESifo Group Munich.
    19. Bock, Stefan, 2008. "Supporting offshoring and nearshoring decisions for mass customization manufacturing processes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(2), pages 490-508, January.
    20. Witada Anukoonwattaka, 2011. "Comparative overview of economic profiles and roles of China and India in Asian international production networks," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT,in: India: A New Player in Asian Production Networks?, Studies in Trade and Investment 75, chapter 2, pages 23-53 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    21. Mine Zeynep Senses, 2006. "The Effects of Outsourcing on the Elasticity of Labor Demand," Working Papers 06-07, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    22. João Amador & Sónia Cabral, 2014. "Global Value Chains: Surveying Drivers, Measures and Impacts," Working Papers w201403, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    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:nbr:nberwo:10697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: () or (Joanne Lustig). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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 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.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.