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Offshoring and the Skill Composition of Employment in the Italian Manufacturing Industries

Author

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  • Anna M. Falzoni

    (Università di Bergamo
    KITeS - Università Bocconi, Milano)

  • Lucia Tajoli

    (Università di Bergamo
    KITeS - Università Bocconi, Milano)

Abstract

In this paper, we assess the extent of offshoring in the Italian manufacturing industries, and we study how this phenomenon is affecting the skill composition of employment. Measuring offshoring using the import-use matrices of input-output tables, firstly we estimate the impact of offshoring on the general level of employment, and we don’t find any significant relationship. Then, we examine the relationship between offshoring and employment composition by skills. Results show that the use of offshoring is not restricted to the search for cheaper unskilled labor, and its impact on the composition of employment seems to be quite different among industry groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna M. Falzoni & Lucia Tajoli, 2011. "Offshoring and the Skill Composition of Employment in the Italian Manufacturing Industries," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, issue 1, pages 121-153, January-M.
    • Handle: RePEc:rpo:ripoec:y:2011:i:1:p:121-153
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Accetturo & Anna Giunta & Salvatore Rossi, 2011. "The Italian Firms between Crisis and the new Globalization," L'industria, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 145-164.
    2. Hongbo CAI & Hao CHEN & Xinhe LIU, 2012. "Offshoring And Employment Structure: Evidence From China," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 7(1(19)/ Sp), pages 35-47.
    3. Klodian Muço & Emiljan Karma, 2023. "The Determining Factors of the Delocalization of Italian Companies to East European Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Anna Giunta & Annamaria Nifo & Domenico Scalera, 2012. "Subcontracting in Italian Industry: Labour Division, Firm Growth and the North--South Divide," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 1067-1083, December.
    5. Roberto Antonietti & Davide Antonioli, 2011. "The impact of production offshoring on the skill composition of manufacturing firms: evidence from Italy," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 87-105.
    6. Ricotta, Fernanda, 2010. "Global Value Chain Indicators: Application to the Italian Sectors - Gli indicatori della global value chain: un’applicazione ai settori italiani," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 63(4), pages 423-450.
    7. Elisa Borghi & Rosario Crinò, 2013. "Service offshoring and wages: worker-level evidence from Italy," LIUC Papers in Economics 264, Cattaneo University (LIUC).
    8. Jacopo Zotti & Rosita Pretaroli & Francesca Severini & Claudio Socci & Giancarlo Infantino, 2020. "Employment incentives and the disaggregated impact on the economy. The Italian case," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 993-1032, October.
    9. Adriana Peluffo, 2022. "Offshoring and its impact on employment," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-14, Instituto de Economía - IECON.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    international fragmentation of production; international trade; labor demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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