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The Effects of Production Offshoring on R&D and Innovation in the Home Country

Author

Listed:
  • Bernhard Dachs
  • Bernd Ebersberger

Abstract

A strong innovation performance based on R&D, product development and the implementation of advanced production technologies is key for the long-term competitiveness of European economies. This study investigates the effects of production offshoring on R&D and innovation activities of the firm in the home country. The analysis is based on a dataset of more than 3000 manufacturing firms from seven European countries. We employ propensity score matching to compare R&D and innovation activities of firms which have offshored production activities in a previous period to a control group of non-offshoring firms. The analysis finds no negative effect of production offshoring on innovation and technological capabilities of firms in the home country. On contrary, offshoring firms spend significantly more on R&D or product design, and invest more in process innovation than non-offshoring firms. These results support a view on internationalisation of firms that regards offshoring as a strategy of international expansion, and not a passive reaction of firms to a loss of their competitiveness. Our results indicate that this expansion goes hand in hand with innovation and process modernization at home.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernhard Dachs & Bernd Ebersberger, 2013. "The Effects of Production Offshoring on R&D and Innovation in the Home Country," FIW Research Reports series V-001, FIW.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsr:ecbook:y:2013:m:06:i:v-001
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    2. Mazzola, Erica & Bruccoleri, Manfredi & Perrone, Giovanni, 2019. "The curvilinear effect of manufacturing outsourcing and captive-offshoring on firms' innovation: The role of temporal endurance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 197-210.
    3. Ioannis Bournakis & Michela Vecchi & Francesco Venturini, 2018. "Off‐Shoring, Specialization and R&D," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(1), pages 26-51, March.
    4. Christopher F. Baum & Hans Lööf & Andreas Stephan & Ingrid Viklund-Ros, 2020. "The impact of offshoring on productivity and innovation: Evidence from Swedish manufacturing firms," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 1014, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 19 Apr 2021.
    5. Alessandro Bramucci & Antonello Zanfei, 2015. "The governance of offshoring and its effects at home. The role of codetermination in the international organization of German firms," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(2), pages 217-244, June.
    6. Mirabelle Muuls & Rajneesh Narula & Lucia Piscitello & Antonello Zanfei, 2023. "Global value chains: antecedents and new perspectives," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(1), pages 19-23, March.
    7. Gerda Dewit & Dermot Leahy, 2020. "Thinking inside the box: Optimal policy towards a footloose R&D‐intensive firm," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(6), pages 1921-1942, December.
    8. Christopher F. Baum & Hans Lööf & Andreas Stephan & Ingrid Viklund‐Ros, 2022. "The impact of offshoring on technical change: Evidence from Swedish manufacturing firms," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 796-818, August.
    9. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "The neglected effects of R&D captive offshoring in emerging countries on the creation of knowledge at home," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 61-91, March.
    10. Baum, Christopher F & Lööf, Hans & Stephan, Andreas & Viklund-Ros, Ingrid, 2020. "The impact of offshoring on innovation and productivity: Evidence from Swedish manufacturing firms," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 486, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    11. Svend Greniman Andersen, 2020. "Offshoring Brains? Evidence on the Complementarity between Manufacturing and R&D in Danish Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(4), pages 1315-1342, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F61 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Microeconomic Impacts
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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