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The Impact of International Outsourcing on the Skill Structure of Employment: Empirical Evidence from German Manufacturing Industries

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  • Diehl, Markus

Abstract

In recent publications it has been argued that the change of the skill structure of industrial employment is caused by biased technical progress rather than by increasing international trade with low wage countries. However, in linking prices for final goods with prices of primary factors, most empirical studies have only dealt with international trade in final goods and have thereby neglected the impact of international outsourcing. In this paper it is argued that outsourcing can be understood as a substitution of imported intermediate inputs for domestic value added, and that such substitution may have an impact on the skill structure of domestic employment in favor of skilled labor. The empirical evidence for German manufacturing industries supports this hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Diehl, Markus, 1999. "The Impact of International Outsourcing on the Skill Structure of Employment: Empirical Evidence from German Manufacturing Industries," Kiel Working Papers 946, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:946
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lorentowicz, Andzelika & Marin, Dalia & Raubold, Alexander, 2005. "Is Human Capital Losing From Outsourcing? Evidence for Austria and Poland," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 76, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    2. Falk, Martin & Koebel, Bertrand M., 2000. "Outsourcing of services, imported materials and the demand for heterogeneous labour : an application of a generalised box-cox function," ZEW Discussion Papers 00-51, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    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. Jörn Kleinert, 2003. "Growing Trade in Intermediate Goods: Outsourcing, Global Sourcing, or Increasing Importance of MNE Networks?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 464-482, August.
    5. Robert Anderton & Paul Brenton & Eva Oscarsson, 2014. "What's Trade Got to Do with It? Relative Demand for Skills within Swedish Manufacturing," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DISTRIBUTION AND DEVELOPMENT Empirical Studies of Trade Policies, chapter 10, pages 205-227, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Marin, Dalia & Lorentowicz, Andzelika & Raubold, Alexander, 2005. "Is Human Capital Losing from Outsourcing?," CEPR Discussion Papers 5344, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. A. Arrighetti & A. Ninni & E. Breda & R. Cappariello & M. Clemens & D. Schumacher, 2012. "Competitiveness in manufacturing. Germany vs. Italy – a comparison," Economics Department Working Papers 2012-EP01, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    8. Diehl, Markus, 2001. "International Trade in Intermediate Inputs: The Case of the Automobile Industry," Kiel Working Papers 1027, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Koskela, Erkki & Poutvaara, Panu, 2008. "Flexible Outsourcing and the Impacts of Labour Taxation in European Welfare States," IZA Discussion Papers 3699, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Ingo Geishecker, 2002. "Outsourcing and the Demand for Low-skilled Labour in German Manufacturing: New Evidence," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 313, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Gerling, Katja, 2000. "Subsidization and Structural Change in Eastern German Transition: Did Economic Policy Meet Its Objectives?," Kiel Working Papers 998, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    12. Lars Calmfors & Giancarlo Corsetti & Michael P. Devereux & Gilles Saint-Paul & Hans-Werner Sinn & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Xavier Vives, 2008. "Chapter 3: The effect of globalisation on Western European jobs: curse or blessing?," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 71-104, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Outsourcing; Trade; Wages; Employment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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