Offshoring of medium-skill jobs, polarization, and productivity effect: implications for wages and low-skill unemployment

Ehsan Vallizadeh, Joan Muysken and Thomas Ziesemer (t.ziesemer@maastrichtuniversity.nl)
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Joan Muysken: Maastricht University

No 201507, IAB-Discussion Paper from Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]

Abstract: "We examine the effects of endogenous offshoring on cost-efficiency, wages and unemployment in a task-assignment model with skill heterogeneity. Exact conditions for the following insights are derived. The distributional effect of offshoring (high-) low-skill-intensive tasks is similar to (unskilled-) skill-biased technology changes, while offshoring medium-skillintensive tasks induces wage polarization. Offshoring improves cost-efficiency through international task reallocation and puts a downward pressure on all wages through domestic skill-task reallocation. If elasticities of task substitution are low (high), the downward pressure on wages in neighboring skill segments is low (high) with a net effect of higher (lower) wages and employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Keywords: Bundesrepublik Deutschland; Ausland; Auswirkungen; Beschäftigungseffekte; Einkommenseffekte; Lohnhöhe; mittlere Qualifikation; Niedriglohn; Niedrigqualifizierte; outsourcing; Produktivitätseffekte; Qualifikationsstruktur (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 F66 J21 J24 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Offshoring of Medium-skill Jobs, Polarization, and Productivity Effect: Implications for Wages and Low-skill Unemployment (2015)
Working Paper: Offshoring of medium-skill jobs, polarization, and productivity effect: Implications for wages and low-skill unemployment (2015)
Working Paper: Offshoring of Medium-skill Jobs, Polarization, and Productivity Effect: Implications for Wages and Low-skill Unemployment (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201507

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