Offshoring and the onshore composition of tasks and skills

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Becker, Sascha O.; Ekholm, Karolina; Muendler, Marc-Andreas
• 署名单位: University of Warwick; Sveriges Riksbank; University of California System; University of California San Diego; University of Warwick; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research; Stockholm University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2012.10.005
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 91-106
• 关键词: Trade in tasks; multinational enterprises; Demand for labor; Linked employer-employee data

摘要

We analyze the relationship between offshoring and the onshore workforce composition in German multinational enterprises (MNEs), using plant data that allow us to discern tasks, occupations, and workforce skills. Offshoring is associated with a statistically significant shift towards more non-routine and more interactive tasks, and with a shift towards highly educated workers. The shift towards highly educated workers is in excess of what is implied by changes in either the task or the occupational composition. Offshoring to low-income countries-with the exception of Central and Eastern European countries-is associated with stronger onshore responses. We find offshoring to predict between 10 and 15% of observed changes in wage-bill shares of highly educated workers and measures of non-routine and interactive tasks. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.