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Offshoring Production: A Simple Model of Wages, Productivity, and Growth

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  • Colin Davies
  • Alireza Naghavi

Abstract

We examine the relationship between o¤shoring and the labour market in an occupational choice model of trade and endogenous growth where workers are employed on the basis of their individual skill levels. Trade liberalization leads to o¤shoring and reduces employment in the manufacturing sector. Displaced workers move into the traditional and innovation sectors ac- cording to their skill levels, shaping real wages and aggregate productivity in the manufacturing sector. The paper aims to show how inter-sectoral labour market adjustments, highlighted by skill heterogeneity, could be a possible explanation for the simultaneous rise in productivity and reduction in real wages that have coincided with the sharp escalation of o¤shoring activities in the US manufacturing sector since 2004.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin Davies & Alireza Naghavi, 2008. "Offshoring Production: A Simple Model of Wages, Productivity, and Growth," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 027, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    • Handle: RePEc:mod:recent:027
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    Cited by:

    1. Alireza Naghavi & Chiara Strozzi, 2017. "Intellectual property rights and diaspora knowledge networks: Can patent protection generate brain gain from skilled migration?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(4), pages 995-1022, November.
    2. Grodzicki, Maciej J. & Skrzypek, Jurand, 2020. "Cost-competitiveness and structural change in value chains – vertically-integrated analysis of the European automotive sector," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 276-287.
    3. Alireza Naghavi & Chiara Strozzi, "undated". "Intellectual Property Rights and Diaspora Knowledge Networks," Development Working Papers 380, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    4. 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.
    5. Giammario Impullitti, 2016. "Global Innovation Races, Offshoring and Wage Inequality," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 171-202, February.
    6. Knez, Klemen, 2022. "Domestic Supplier Spillovers of Global Value Chains in Central and Eastern European Countries," MPRA Paper 112391, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. da Silveira, Giovani J.C., 2014. "An empirical analysis of manufacturing competitive factors and offshoring," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 163-173.
    8. Daniel Horgos & Lucia Tajoli, 2015. "How Offshoring Can Affect the Industries’ Skill Composition," Economies, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-28, May.
    9. Ken-ichi Hashimoto, 2015. "Tariffs, Offshoring and Unemployment in A Two-Country Model," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 66(3), pages 371-392, September.
    10. Óscar Afonso & Ana Rita Longras, 2022. "Corruption, institutional quality, and offshoring: How do they affect comparative advantage, inter‐country wage inequality, and economic growth?," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 987-1020, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    o¤shoring; trade liberalization; real wages; growth; productivity; inter-sectoral labour reallocation; skill heterogeneity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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