We investigate the impact of international outsourcing on productivity using plant level data for Irish manufacturing. Specifically, we distinguish the effect of outsourcing of materials from services inputs. Moreover, we examine whether the impact on productivity is different for plants being more embedded in international markets through exporting or being part of a multinational. Our results show that productivity benefits only accrue to affiliates of foreignowned multinationals and exporters. In particular, for foreign-owned exporting plants increased international outsourcing of both services and materials is associated with higher productivity, whereas this link only exists for domestic exporters' outsourcing of materials.

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Abstract:We provide a comprehensive empirical analysis of the links between international services outsourcing, domestic outsourcing, profits and innovation using plant level data. We find a positive effect of international outsourcing of services on innovative activity at the plant level. Such a positive effect can also be observed for domestic outsourcing of services, but the magnitude is smaller. This makes intuitive sense, as international outsourcing allows more scope for exploiting international factor price differentials, therefore giving the establishment higher profits and more scope to restructure production activities towards innovation. We also find that international outsourcing has a positive effect on profitability, as predicted by theory, while this is not true for domestic sourcing. The results are robust to various specifications and an instrumental variables analysis.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Acknowledgements This paper is forthcoming in a special issue of the International Review of Economics andFinance on "Outsourcing and Fragmentation: Blessing or Threat?". We are grateful to Forfás for the provision of the data. Financial support through the Leverhulme Trust (Grant No. F114/BF) is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank David Paton for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. All errors and omissions are our own. Labour demand effects of international outsourcing:Evidence from plant level data by Holger Görg and Aoife Hanley AbstractWe examine empirically the effect of international outsourcing on labour demand at the level of the individual plant. We do so by estimating a dynamic model of plant level labour demand, using a Generalised Method of Moments estimator. We use plant level data for the Irish Electronics sector, an industry that has expanded rapidly over the last decade and that has witnessed significant offshoring activity. Our results suggest that, in the short run, there are significant reductions in plant level labour demand, which we attribute to the use of international outsourcing. There appear to be stronger negative effects from outsourcing of materials than from services outsourcing. JEL classification: F14, J23, L23Keywords: international outsourcing, offshoring, labour demand, electronics industry Non-Technical SummaryThe term international outsourcing, or more specifically the location of production processes abroad and the subsequent imports of intermediates, has been a widely discussed topic in the US and European media recently. It appears to arouse either concern with unions that home jobs will be lost to workers abroad without commensurate job gains in other sectors, resulting in net job losses. Alternatively, employers can argue that productivity gains outweigh job losses especially in the lower skilled sectors and may be accompanied by increases in high skilled jobs. A recent Financial Times article reports findings from an independent consultant that a 'two-speed Europe is emerging', with the UK and Ireland reporting the highest levels of worker replacement. The article estimates, for example, that 100,000 UK jobs will have relocated abroad by 2005 as a direct consequence of international outsourcing. The corresponding estimates for Germany and France are 11,000 and 7,000 respectively. Accordingly, offshoring is a particularly burning issue in the island ec...

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AcknowledgementsThis work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown copyright and reproduced with the permission of the controller of HMSO and Queen's Printer for Scotland. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. We are grateful to participants at a workshop at Nottingham University for helpful comments. Holger Görg gratefully acknowledges financial support through the Leverhulme Trust (Programme Grant F114/BF). R&D and exporting: A comparison of British and Irish firms by Sourafel Girma, Holger Görg and Aoife Hanley AbstractThis paper investigates the two way relationship between R&D and export activity. In particular, we concern ourselves with the question whether R&D stimulates exports and, perhaps more importantly, whether export activity leads to increasing innovative activity in terms of R&D (learning by exporting). We use two unique firm level databases for Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and compare the results for these two countries. We find that previous exporting experience enhances the innovative capability of Irish firms. Conversely, no strong learning-by-exporting effects are found for British firms. Arguably the differences between Ireland and Britain are attributable to different, cross-country exporting patterns where Irish firms have a greater interface with OECD markets. JEL classification: F14, F23

Starting from the observation that all firms in Ireland (foreign and domestic in manufacturing and services industries) were hit by the crisis, the paper asks whether there is a difference in the behaviour of foreign and domestic firms. One hypothesis is that foreign multinationals are less linked into the Irish economy, so more likely to leave once the economy is hit by a negative shock. The paper discusses background hypotheses before giving empirical evidence from first, aggregate data and second, firm‐level observations. The analysis of the latter suggests that foreign firms are not more likely to leave during the crisis than Irish firms. Some policy conclusions are offered in the paper.