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Outsourcing business service and the scope of local markets

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  • Yukako Ono

Abstract

This paper examines outsourcing to test whether productivity-enhancing specialization is facilitated in bigger cities. First, the paper provides a theoretical model which shows that greater local demand for a given input promotes the entry of suppliers into a city; the increased number of suppliers then results in lower outsourcing prices and a higher use of outsourcing by final producers, therefore reducing the final producers' production costs. I then test the predictions of the model by examining manufacturing plants' practices of outsourcing business services, by using plant-level data from the 1992 Annual Survey of Manufactures. The empirical results show that an exogenous increase in local demand promotes the entry of service suppliers and increases a firm's probability of outsourcing for white-collar services. In particular, I found that doubling the intensity of the use of a service in a U.S. county, which can be attributed to the industrial composition of the county, results in a 7% to 25% increase in the probability of outsourcing.

Suggested Citation

  • Yukako Ono, 2001. "Outsourcing business service and the scope of local markets," Working Paper Series WP-01-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-01-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tomás F. Espino-rodríguez & Víctor Padrón Robaina, 2005. "The management perception of the strategic outsourcing of services: An empirical examination in the hotel sector," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 689-708, July.
    2. Roberto Antonietti & Maria Rosaria Ferrante & Riccardo Leoncini, 2014. "Spatial Agglomeration, Production Technology and the Choice to Make and/or Buy: Empirical Evidence from the Emilia Romagna Machine Tool Industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 284-300, February.
    3. Ann Bartel & Saul Lach & Nachum Sicherman, 2005. "Outsourcing and Technological Change," NBER Working Papers 11158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Yukako Ono & Victor Stango, 2005. "Outsourcing, firm size, and product complexity: evidence from credit unions," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 29(Q I), pages 2-11.
    5. Davis, James C. & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2008. "The agglomeration of headquarters," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 445-460, September.
    6. Andrew Friedson & Jing Li, 2015. "The impact of agglomeration economies on hospital input prices," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Roberto Antonietti & Giulio Cainelli, 2011. "Geographic concentration and vertical disintegration in KIBS: evidence from the metropolitan area of Milan," Openloc Working Papers 1105, Public policies and local development.
    8. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & John, Kose & Waisman, Maya, 2012. "Urban agglomeration and CEO compensation," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 17/2012, Bank of Finland.
    9. Ono, Yukako, 2003. "Outsourcing business services and the role of central administrative offices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 377-395, May.
    10. Michael A. Kouparitsas, 2005. "Is there evidence of the new economy in U.S. GDP data?," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 29(Q I), pages 12-29.
    11. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2012_017 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & John, Kose & Waisman, Maya, 2016. "Urban Agglomeration and CEO Compensation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(6), pages 1925-1953, December.
    13. Roberto Antonietti & Giulio Cainelli, 2012. "Urban size and KIBS vertical disintegration: Evidence from Lombardy," ERSA conference papers ersa12p666, European Regional Science Association.

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    Keywords

    Contracts; Industrial productivity;

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