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Outsourcing and firm productivity: evidence for an Italian local production system

Author

Listed:
  • Sandro Montresor
  • Davide Antonioli
  • Massimiliano Mazzanti
  • Paolo Pini

Abstract

The paper investigates empirically the impact that outsourcing strategies have on the labour productivity of firms embedded in a local production system characterized by idiosyncratic techno-economic and organizational features. A diachronic cross-section econometric model of the productivity impact of outsourcing is applied to a sample of firms based in the local production system (LPS) of Reggio Emilia (RE) (in Emilia Romagna, Italy). The application confirms some of the results the empirical literature reports for other no or less context specific empirical applications, in particular their dependency on the kind of outsourced activities, the internationalization of the outsourcing firm and time horizon of the productivity effects. On the other hand, when the actual extent at which the different kinds of activities are outsourced is retained, important exceptions to these results are obtained: the positive impact of the externalization of manufacturing activities is the most relevant and the most consistent with the district nature of the investigated LPS.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandro Montresor & Davide Antonioli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Paolo Pini, 2009. "Outsourcing and firm productivity: evidence for an Italian local production system," Openloc Working Papers 0907, Public policies and local development.
    • Handle: RePEc:trn:utwpol:0907
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    File URL: http://www.openloc.eu/cms/storage/openloc/working_papers/2009/MontresorEtAl2009.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thijs Raa & Edward Wolff, 2001. "Outsourcing of Services and the Productivity Recovery in U.S. Manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 149-165, September.
    2. Alessia Lo Turco, 2007. "International Outsourcing and Productivity in Italian Manufacturing Sectors," Rivista italiana degli economisti, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 125-146.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Roberto Antonietti, 2016. "From outsourcing to productivity, passing through training: microeconometric evidence from Italy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 407-425, July.
    2. Dario Guarascio & Mario Pianta & Matteo Lucchese & Francesco Bogliacino, 2015. "Business cycles, technology and exports," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 32(2), pages 167-200, August.
    3. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Sandro Montresor & Paolo Pini, 2009. "What Drives (or Hampers) Outsourcing? Evidence for a Local Production System in Emilia Romagna," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 331-365.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    outsourcing; productivity; transaction costs; industrial relations; innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining

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