IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iaw/iawdip/112.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is Offshoring Linked to Offshoring Potential? - Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data

Author

Abstract

This paper analyses the link between offshoring in German plants and the offshoring potential of their employees. We use information on the offshoring potential of jobs from representative task data and merge it with linked employer-employee data, for which information on different modes of offshoring behaviour is available. We empirically identify individual and plant-level determinants of offshoring activity and additionally analyse how offshoring potential influences the realisation of offshoring by German plants. Depending on the measure for actual offshoring, we mostly find a negative link: firms are less likely to outsource or offshore parts of their production processes if their outsourcing and offshoring potential is high. This indicates that existing measures of offshoring potential can indeed be interpreted as not-yet realised offshoring, or offshoring that cannot be realised, e.g. due to trade barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Brändle, 2014. "Is Offshoring Linked to Offshoring Potential? - Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data," IAW Discussion Papers 112, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaw:iawdip:112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iaw.edu/RePEc/iaw/pdf/iaw_dp_112.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wilhelm K. Kohler & Marcel Smolka, 2012. "Global Sourcing: Evidence from Spanish Firm-Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert M Stern (ed.), Quantitative Analysis Of Newly Evolving Patterns Of International Trade Fragmentation, Offshoring of Activities, and Vertical Intra-Industry Trade, chapter 4, pages 139-193, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry & Ries, John, 2009. "How remote is the offshoring threat?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 429-444, May.
    3. David Autor & David Dorn, 2009. "This Job Is "Getting Old": Measuring Changes in Job Opportunities Using Occupational Age Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 45-51, May.
    4. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2014. "Does importing more inputs raise exports? Firm-level evidence from France," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 241-275, May.
    5. Sascha O. Becker & Marc-Andreas Muendler, 2015. "Trade and tasks: an exploration over three decades in Germany," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 30(84), pages 589-641.
    6. Autor, David H., 2013. "The "task approach" to labor markets : an overview," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(3), pages 185-199.
    7. Arnaud Costinot & Lindsay Oldenski & James Rauch, 2011. "Adaptation and the Boundary of Multinational Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 298-308, February.
    8. Becker, Sascha O. & Ekholm, Karolina & Muendler, Marc-Andreas, 2013. "Offshoring and the onshore composition of tasks and skills," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 91-106.
    9. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Pahnke, André & Teixeira, Paulino, 2008. "A Note on the Determinants and Consequences of Outsourcing Using German Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    11. Pol Antras & Elhanan Helpman, 2004. "Global Sourcing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(3), pages 552-580, June.
    12. Peter S. Eppinger, 2014. "Exploiting the Potential for Services Offshoring: Evidence from German Firms," IAW Discussion Papers 109, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    13. Ellguth, Peter & Kohaut, Susanne & Möller, Iris, 2014. "The IAB Establishment Panel - methodological essentials and data quality," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 47(1-2), pages 27-41.
    14. J. Bradford Jensen & Lori G. Kletzer, 2010. "Measuring Tradable Services and the Task Content of Offshorable Services Jobs," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 309-335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Pahnke, André & Teixeira, Paulino, 2011. "A research note on the determinants and consequences of outsourcing using German data," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(3), pages 231-244.
    16. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. J. Bradford Jensen & Lori G. Kletzer, 2005. "Tradable Services: Understanding the Scope and Impact of Services Outsourcing," Working Paper Series WP05-9, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    18. repec:cii:cepiei:2012-q3-131-1 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Alan S. Blinder, 2009. "How Many US Jobs Might be Offshorable?," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 10(2), pages 41-78, April.
    20. repec:hrv:faseco:4784029 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Lindsay Oldenski, 2012. "The Task Composition of Offshoring by U.S. Multinationals," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 131, pages 5-21.
    22. Joachim Wagner, 2011. "Offshoring and firm performance: self-selection, effects on performance, or both?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 217-247, June.
    23. Jagdish Bhagwati & Arvind Panagariya, 2004. "The Muddles over Outsourcing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 93-114, Fall.
    24. Antrà s, Pol & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2014. "Multinational Firms and the Structure of International Trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 55-130, Elsevier.
    25. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2008. "Trading Tasks: A Simple Theory of Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1978-1997, December.
    26. Tobias Brändle & Andreas Koch, 2017. "Offshoring and Outsourcing Potentials: Evidence from German Micro-Level Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9), pages 1775-1806, September.
    27. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    28. repec:iab:iabfda:201005(en is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Jan Rose Skaksen, 2004. "International outsourcing when labour markets are unionized," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 78-94, February.
    30. Alan S. Blinder & Alan B. Krueger, 2013. "Alternative Measures of Offshorability: A Survey Approach," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(S1), pages 97-128.
    31. Christian Arndt & Claudia M. Buch & Anselm Mattes, 2012. "Disentangling barriers to internationalization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(1), pages 41-63, February.
    32. Edward E Leamer & Michael Storper, 2001. "The Economic Geography of the Internet Age," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(4), pages 641-665, December.
    33. Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2006. "Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 235-270, April.
    34. Jacobebbinghaus, Peter & Seth, Stefan, 2010. "Linked Employer-Employee Data from the IAB : LIAB Cross-sectional Model 2 1993-2008 (LIAB QM2 9308)," FDZ Datenreport. Documentation on Labour Market Data 201005_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    35. Pol Antràs, 2003. "Firms, Contracts, and Trade Structure," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1375-1418.
    36. Baldwin, Richard & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2014. "Trade-in-goods and trade-in-tasks: An integrating framework," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 51-62.
    37. Schrader, Klaus & Laaser, Claus-Friedrich, 2009. "Globalisierung in der Wirtschaftskrise: wie sicher sind die Jobs in Deutschland?," Kiel Discussion Papers 465, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    38. Addison, John T. & Bellmann, Lutz & Pahnke, André & Teixeira, Paulino, 2011. "A research note on the determinants and consequences of outsourcing using German data," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(3), pages 231-244.
    39. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi & Antonello Zanfei, 2010. "Who Trades with Whom? Exploring the Links between Firms' International Activities, Skills, and Wages," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 951-971, November.
    40. Autor, David H., 2013. "The "task approach" to labor markets : an overview," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(3), pages 185-199.
    41. Bardhan, Ashok Deo & Kroll, Cynthia, 2003. "The New Wave of Outsourcing," Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, Research Reports qt02f8z392, Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, UC Berkeley.
    42. bernhard Boockmann, 2014. "Offshoring Potential and Employment Dynamics," IAW Discussion Papers 111, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    43. Kohler, Wilhelm & Smolka, Marcel, 2014. "Global sourcing and firm selection," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 411-415.
    44. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry & Ries, John, 2009. "How remote is the offshoring threat?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 429-444, May.
    45. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10144 is not listed on IDEAS
    46. Stefano Federico, 2012. "Headquarter intensity and the choice between outsourcing versus integration at home or abroad," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(6), pages 1337-1358, December.
    47. Hogrefe, Jan, 2013. "Offshoring and relative labor demand from a task perspective," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-067, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    48. Jan Rose Skaksen, 2004. "International outsourcing when labour markets are unionized," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 78-94, February.
    49. Runjuan Liu & Daniel Trefler, 2008. "Much Ado About Nothing: American Jobs and the Rise of Service Outsourcing to China and India," NBER Working Papers 14061, 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. Peter S. Eppinger, 2014. "Exploiting the Potential for Services Offshoring: Evidence from German Firms," IAW Discussion Papers 109, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    2. Kovalenko, Tim & Sauerbier, Timo & Schröpf, Benedikt, 2024. "The fall and rebound of average establishment size in West Germany," Discussion Papers 11/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Kovalenko, Tim & Sauerbier, Timo & Schröpf, Benedikt, 2023. "The fall and rebound of average establishment size in West Germany," Discussion Papers 126, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    4. bernhard Boockmann, 2014. "Offshoring Potential and Employment Dynamics," IAW Discussion Papers 111, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tobias Brändle & Andreas Koch, 2017. "Offshoring and Outsourcing Potentials: Evidence from German Micro-Level Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9), pages 1775-1806, September.
    2. Tobias Brändle & Andreas Koch, 2015. "Offshoreability and wages. Evidence from German task data," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(2), pages 189-216, June.
    3. bernhard Boockmann, 2014. "Offshoring Potential and Employment Dynamics," IAW Discussion Papers 111, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    4. Koch, Andreas & Brändle, Tobias, 2013. "Outsourcing Potentials and International Tradability of Jobs. Evidence from German Micro-Level Data," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79727, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. João Amador & Sónia Cabral, 2014. "Global Value Chains: Surveying Drivers, Measures and Impacts," Working Papers w201403, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    6. Catherine Laffineur & El Mouhoud, 2015. "The jobs at risk from globalization: the French case," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(3), pages 477-531, August.
    7. Hartmut Egger & Udo Kreickemeier & Jens Wrona, 2017. "Offshoring Domestic Jobs," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade and Labor Markets Welfare, Inequality and Unemployment, chapter 2, pages 27-70, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Peter S. Eppinger, 2014. "Exploiting the Potential for Services Offshoring: Evidence from German Firms," IAW Discussion Papers 109, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    9. Eppinger, Peter S., 2019. "Service offshoring and firm employment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 209-228.
    10. Iammarino, Simona & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2015. "Offshoring and the Geography of Jobs in Great Britain," CEPR Discussion Papers 10855, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Vallizadeh, Ehsan & Muysken, Joan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2015. "Offshoring of medium-skill jobs, polarization, and productivity effect : implications for wages and low-skill unemployment," IAB-Discussion Paper 201507, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    12. Vallizadeh, Ehsan & Muysken, Joan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2016. "Offshoring Medium-Skill Tasks, Low-Skill Unemployment and the Skill-Wage Structure," MPRA Paper 75581, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Rosario Crinò, 2009. "Offshoring, Multinationals And Labour Market: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 197-249, April.
    14. Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2020. "Wage response to global production links: evidence for workers from 28 European countries (2005–2014)," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(4), pages 769-801, November.
    15. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2017. "Innovations, growth and participation in advanced economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-351, April.
    16. Daniel CHIQUIAR & Martín TOBAL & Renato YSLAS, 2019. "Measuring and understanding trade in service tasks," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(1), pages 169-190, March.
    17. David Hummels & Jakob R. Munch & Chong Xiang, 2018. "Offshoring and Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 981-1028, September.
    18. Abigail Cooke & Tom Kemeny & David Rigby, 2019. "Vulnerable Jobs and the Wage Effects of Import Competition," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 484-521, July.
    19. Konstantin Koerner & Mathilde Le Moigne, 2023. "FDI and onshore task composition: evidence from German firms with affiliates in the Czech Republic," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-42, December.
    20. Becker, Sascha O. & Ekholm, Karolina & Muendler, Marc-Andreas, 2013. "Offshoring and the onshore composition of tasks and skills," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 91-106.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Outsourcing; Offshoring; Trade in Tasks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

    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:iaw:iawdip:112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 bibliographic 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.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rolf Kleimann (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iawtude.html .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.