Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/48627
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
University of Tübingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance No. 12
Publisher: 
University of Tübingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Tübingen
Abstract: 
The policy debate views offshoring as job destruction. Theoretical models of offshoring mostly assume full employment. We develop a model of task trade that allows for equilibrium unemployment. In this model, there are two margins of adjustment. At the extensive margin, moving tasks offshore destroys jobs. At the intensive margin, due to higher productivity of labor in domestic tasks it creates jobs. Exploring these conditions in detail, we identify the potential of non-monotonic adjustment: Early stages of offshoring always lead to higher unemployment, while later stages may entail net job creation. We highlight this potential through numerical simulations.
Subjects: 
Offshoring
Trade in Tasks
Unemployment
Non-monotonicity
JEL: 
F16
F11
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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