Offshoring and ICT – Evidence for German Manufacturing and Service Firms

44 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2013

See all articles by Fabienne Rasel

Fabienne Rasel

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research - Information and Communication Technologies Research Group

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

In this paper, I analyse the relationship between offshoring and ICT at the firm level differentiating between manufacturing and services. Using firm-level data from the manufacturing and service sector in Germany and a broad range of ICT measures, overall, the results reveal a positive relationship between offshoring and ICT. Thus, they support the argument that ICT might be relevant for offshoring. Controlling for other firm characteristics, software to coordinate and to manage the supply chain increases the offshoring probability, in particular for manufacturing firms. For service firms, also general enterprise software and e-commerce purchases from suppliers make offshoring more likely. Labour productivity and the realisation of a product innovation are significantly and positively linked to offshoring for firms from both sectors. This finding confirms the productivity advantage of offshoring in comparison to non-offshoring firms that is stated in the literature.

Keywords: offshoring, information and communication technologies, firm-level analysis

JEL Classification: D22, L23, F14

Suggested Citation

Rasel, Fabienne, Offshoring and ICT – Evidence for German Manufacturing and Service Firms (2012). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 12-087, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2198916 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2198916

Fabienne Rasel (Contact Author)

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research - Information and Communication Technologies Research Group ( email )

D-68034 Mannheim
Germany

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
67
Abstract Views
601
Rank
510,309
PlumX Metrics