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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Economics
Understanding The Decline Of U.S. Manufacturing Employment, Susan N. Houseman
Understanding The Decline Of U.S. Manufacturing Employment, Susan N. Houseman
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
U.S. manufacturing experienced a precipitous and historically unprecedented decline in employment in the 2000s. Many economists and other analysts—pointing to decades of statistics showing that manufacturing real (inflation-adjusted) output growth has largely kept pace with private sector real output growth, that productivity growth has been much higher, and that the sector’s share of aggregate employment has been declining—argue that manufacturing’s job losses are largely the result of productivity growth (assumed to reflect automation) and are part of a long-term trend. Since the 1980s, however, the apparently robust growth in manufacturing real output and productivity have been driven by a relatively …
Memorandum: Data Needs For Research On Domestic Outsourcing In The United States, Susan N. Houseman, Annette Bernhardt
Memorandum: Data Needs For Research On Domestic Outsourcing In The United States, Susan N. Houseman, Annette Bernhardt
All Staff Papers and Presentations
Available evidence points to substantial growth in U.S. firms’ outsourcing of various functions to domestic as well as foreign suppliers, a phenomenon sometimes called the vertical disintegration of the firm. Although receiving less attention than its offshore counterpart, domestic outsourcing is changing how work in the U.S. is organized across firms and industries. Good data allowing documentation of such supply networks is critical to the accuracy of many analyses, including employment impact analyses of a wide range of federal, state, and local economic policies; occupational workforce projections; and sector and industry productivity statistics. Moreover, although there are many reasons why …
Domestic Outsourcing In The United States: A Research Agenda To Assess Trends And Effects On Job Quality, Annette Bernhardt, Rosemary L. Batt, Susan N. Houseman, Eileen Appelbaum
Domestic Outsourcing In The United States: A Research Agenda To Assess Trends And Effects On Job Quality, Annette Bernhardt, Rosemary L. Batt, Susan N. Houseman, Eileen Appelbaum
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The goal of this paper is to develop a comprehensive research agenda to analyze trends in domestic outsourcing in the United States—firms’ use of contractors and independent contractors—and its effects on job quality and inequality. In the process, we review definitions of outsourcing, the available scant empirical research, and limitations of existing data sources. We also summarize theories that attempt to explain why firms contract out for certain functions and assess their predictions about likely impacts on job quality. We then lay out in detail a major research initiative on domestic outsourcing, discussing the questions it should answer and providing …
Domestic Outsourcing Reduces Wages And Contributes To Rising Inequality, Johannes Schmieder, Deborah Goldschmidt
Domestic Outsourcing Reduces Wages And Contributes To Rising Inequality, Johannes Schmieder, Deborah Goldschmidt
Employment Research Newsletter
No abstract provided.
The Rise Of Domestic Outsourcing And The Evolution Of The German Wage Structure, Deborah Goldschmidt, Johannes Schmieder
The Rise Of Domestic Outsourcing And The Evolution Of The German Wage Structure, Deborah Goldschmidt, Johannes Schmieder
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The nature of the relationship between employers and employees has been changing over the last three decades, with firms increasingly relying on contractors, temp agencies, and franchises rather than hiring employees directly. We investigate the impact of this transformation on the wage structure by following jobs that are moved outside of the boundary of lead employers to contracting firms. For this end we develop a new method for identifying outsourcing of food, cleaning, security, and logistics services in administrative data using the universe of social security records in Germany. We document a dramatic growth of domestic outsourcing in Germany since …
Trade, Competitiveness And Employment In The Global Economy, Susan N. Houseman
Trade, Competitiveness And Employment In The Global Economy, Susan N. Houseman
Employment Research Newsletter
No abstract provided.
Measuring Offshore Outsourcing And Offshoring: Problems For Economic Statistics, Susan N. Houseman
Measuring Offshore Outsourcing And Offshoring: Problems For Economic Statistics, Susan N. Houseman
Employment Research Newsletter
No abstract provided.
Who Really Made Your Car?: Restructuring And Geographic Change In The Auto Industry, Thomas H. Klier, James M. Rubenstein
Who Really Made Your Car?: Restructuring And Geographic Change In The Auto Industry, Thomas H. Klier, James M. Rubenstein
Upjohn Press
The authors present the key characteristics of the vast network of auto parts suppliers and describe the changing geography of U.S. motor vehicle production at the local, regional, national, and international levels.
Who Really Made Your Car?, Thomas H. Klier, James M. Rubenstein
Who Really Made Your Car?, Thomas H. Klier, James M. Rubenstein
Employment Research Newsletter
No abstract provided.
Outsourcing, Offshoring, And Productivity Measurement In U.S. Manufacturing, Susan N. Houseman
Outsourcing, Offshoring, And Productivity Measurement In U.S. Manufacturing, Susan N. Houseman
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
I discuss reasons why manufacturing productivity statistics should be interpreted with caution in light of the recent growth of domestic and foreign outsourcing and offshoring. First, outsourcing and offshoring are poorly measured in U.S. statistics, and poor measurement may impart a significant bias to manufacturing and, where offshoring is involved, aggregate productivity statistics. Second, companies often outsource or offshore work to take advantage of cheap (relative to their output) labor, and such cost savings are counted as productivity gains, even in multifactor productivity calculations. This fact has potentially important implications for the interpretation of productivity statistics. Whether, for instance, productivity …
Market Gap Analysis For The Greater Grand Rapids Area, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts
Market Gap Analysis For The Greater Grand Rapids Area, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts
Reports
No abstract provided.
Outsourcing To Staffing Services: How Manufacturers' Use Of Staffing Agencies Affects Employment And Productivity Measurement, Matthew Dey, Susan N. Houseman, Anne E. Polivka
Outsourcing To Staffing Services: How Manufacturers' Use Of Staffing Agencies Affects Employment And Productivity Measurement, Matthew Dey, Susan N. Houseman, Anne E. Polivka
Employment Research Newsletter
No abstract provided.
Manufacturers' Outsourcing To Employment Services, Matthew Dey, Susan N. Houseman, Anne E. Polivka
Manufacturers' Outsourcing To Employment Services, Matthew Dey, Susan N. Houseman, Anne E. Polivka
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
We estimate the effects of manufacturers' use of employment services—comprised primarily of temporary help and professional employer organizations—on measured employment and labor productivity in manufacturing between 1989 and 2004. A major contribution of the paper is the construction of panel data on employment by occupation and industry from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. We use these data to document the dramatic rise of production and other manual occupations within the employment services sector and, in conjunction with information from the Contingent Worker Supplements, to estimate the number of employment services workers assigned to manufacturing over the period. Although measured employment …