The New Wave of Outsourcing

Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics Research Report Series No. 1103

13 Pages Posted: 5 Jun 2007

See all articles by Ashok Bardhan

Ashok Bardhan

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business

Cynthia A. Kroll

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business

Date Written: October 2003

Abstract

This paper assesses the potential impact of the ongoing phenomenon of services offshoring (frequently referred to as outsourcing, in the media) by analyzing the occupational structure of the US labor market. It develops a list of occupational attributes of offshoreability, points out the institutional characteristics, wage-differences and other features of the recipient economies, such as India, and compares and contrasts manufacturing and services offshoring. The paper suggests that 14 million jobs or 11% of the employed labor force is vulnerable and at-risk to offshoring. The authors also look at the potential impact of offshoring on real estate and on regional/metropolitan areas in the US, and speculate about future economic-adjustment scenarios.

Keywords: outsourcing, offshoring, occupations, India, US, job loss

JEL Classification: J6, J3, F1, F2, R2

Suggested Citation

Bardhan, Ashok and Kroll, Cynthia A., The New Wave of Outsourcing (October 2003). Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics Research Report Series No. 1103, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=985741 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.985741

Ashok Bardhan (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business ( email )

545 Student Services Building, #1900
2220 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

Cynthia A. Kroll

University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business ( email )

545 Student Services Building, #1900
2220 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States