Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/26497 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 2452
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
The paper investigates the consequences of outsourcing of labor intensive activities to low-wage economies. This trend challenges the two basic functions of the welfare state, redistribution and social insurance when private unemployment insurance markets are missing. The main results are: (i) outsourcing raises unemployment and labor income risk of unskilled workers; (ii) it increases inequality among high- and low-income groups; and (iii) the gains from outsourcing can be made Pareto improving by using a redistributive linear income tax if redistribution is initially not too large. We finally derive the welfare optimal redistribution and unemployment insurance policies.
Subjects: 
Outsourcing
unemployment
social insurance
redistribution
JEL: 
F23
H21
J64
J65
L23
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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