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A Theoretical Analysis And Econometric Test On The Impact Of Outsourcing Undertaking On The Skill Wage Gap In China

Posted on:2022-07-07Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:T Y LiuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1487306332461084Subject:Quantitative Economics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Skilled wage gap refers to the wage gap between labors with different skills.Since 1970 s,the wage gap between skilled labor and unskilled labor in developed economies such as Europe and the United States has become increasingly prominent,which has aroused thinking from academic circles.Research led by Feenstra & Hanson(1996)introduces that outsourcing,an emerging international trade pattern of division of labor,is an important reason for the widening of the skill wage gap.The rapid development of information and communication technology and computer technology has greatly reduced the communication costs of enterprises between countries,making it possible to "fragmented" production models across different borders.The core principle is that,in order to maintain the core competitiveness of enterprises,multinational enterprises in developed economies outsource the production of non-core products to enterprises in developing countries with low labor costs,thus forming the pattern of intermediate goods trade.The process of outsourcing the production process of intermediate goods by developed economies to enterprises in developing countries has had a significant impact on the domestic labor market.The transfer of the production process of intermediate goods has caused a large number of domestic unskilled laborers in low-end manufacturing to face absolute wage reductions,unemployment or career changeIn fact,the process of undertaking the production of intermediate products has also had a greater impact on the labor market in developing countries from the perspective of the contractor.The manufacturing of high-tech-intensive intermediate products may affect the domestic labor market through channels such as factor market distortions effect,product price changes effect and technology spillovers effect,etc.,and affect the skill wage gap.From the perspective of factor distortions,the increase in the level of undertaking outsourcing may reduce the industry's monopoly through the increase of market openness,the improvement of enterprise entry and exit conditions,and the further optimization of resource allocation,etc.,to improve welfare losses and factor market distortions,thereby affect skill wages gap.From the perspective of product price changes,changes in the level of undertaking outsourcing can lead to changes in product prices,which in turn affect changes in relative demand for factors,and affect skill wage gap.From the perspective of technology spillovers,developing countries can absorb the cutting-edge technology of the contracting party through technology introduction and technology imitation,which in turn affects the skill wage gap.Regrettably,most of the existing theoretical foundations and empirical analysis are concentrated on developed economies,and there is generally less research on developing countries that undertake outsourcing.Based on this,this article attempts to incorporate undertaking outsourcing into the corresponding intermediate goods trade theoretical model to be suitable for scenarios in developing countries.This article will start from the perspective of product price effects,factor distortion improvement effects,technology spillover effects,and wage distribution prespectives to explore the impact of undertaking outsourcing on the skill wage gap through theoretical analysis and quantitative testing.This research can not only expand and enrich the existing theory of trade in intermediate goods,but also provide certain empirical evidence and theoretical support for the formulation and implementation of high-quality trade development policies in the new era of China,the unequal status of government positioning,and the implementation of people's livelihood measures.It has important theoretical significance and reality significance.First,the article explores the impact of undertaking outsourcing on the skill wage gap through factor market distortion improvement channels.The article constructs a theoretical analysis framework of undertaking outsourcing to influence the skill wage gap through factor market distortions improvement effects.And then uses the panel mediation effect model to conduct econometric tests,and discusses the situation of heterogeneous industries.The results showed that:(1)Undertaking outsourcing can improve the distortion of the factor market significantly;(2)Undertaking outsourcing has further contributed to the suppression of the skills wage gap by improving factor market distortions;(3)Undertaking outsourcing's distortion improvement effect was mainly concentrated in low-tech industries,but was not significant in high-tech industries.Second,the article explores the impact of undertaking outsourcing on the skill wage gap through product price changes.The article expands the trade outsourcing model of Hijzen(2007),and then uses the mandated wage structure model to explore the impact of heterogeneous outsourcing index product price changes on the skill wage gap.The results show that:(1)Product price changes caused by undertaking outsourcing can affect the wage gap through two channels:factor bias effect and industry bias effect;(2)Narrow undertaking outsourcing has a significant negative impact on the overall wage level and product price of the industry Impact;(3)The product price effect of narrow undertaking outsourcing has significantly reduced the wage gap between China's high-skilled labor force and the medium and low-skilled labor force,and this effect is mainly dominated by the factor bias effect.Third,the article explores the impact of undertaking outsourcing through technology spillover channels on the skill wage gap.The article extends the Ricardo task model of Acemoglu & Autor(2011),and then tests the theoretical hypotheses derived from the model based on multi-year CHIP data,combined with a multi-layer linear model and a mediating effect model.The results show that:(1)Undertaking outsourcing and Routine task biased technology advancement have led to wage polarization in which the wage gap between high-skilled labor and medium-skilled labor has widened,and the wage gap between medium-skilled labor and low-skilled labor has narrowed;(2)Undertaking outsourcing.It has obvious asymmetric effects on the wages of low-skilled groups and high-skilled groups.Relatively speaking,they are more inclined to promote the increase of the wages of skilled labor groups;(3)Undertaking outsourcing further induces wage polarization in China's labor market through technology spillover effects.Finally,the article explores the impact of undertaking outsourcing on the skill wage gap from the perspective of wage distribution.The article explores the impact of undertaking outsourcing on different wage quantile groups based on micro data.And the article combines the random intercept hierarchical linear model,unconditional quantile regression model,unconditional quantile decomposition method and other measurement methods,to analyzes the formation mechanism of skill wage gap,and the way in which undertaking outsourcing affects wage distribution from multidimensional perspectives such as within-group effect and between-group effect.The results show that:(1)Undertaking outsourcing has significantly promoted the polarization of wage distribution,but has no significant impact on the multi-polarization of wages;(2)Undertaking outsourcing has a significant role in promoting polarization on both the professional and educational levels;(3)Undertaking outsourcing's bias towards high-wage groups has gradually weakened,thereby reducing its role in promoting wage polarization,and this effect stems from its wage structure effect rather than its wage composition effect.In the process of advancing the high-quality development of trade,the impact of undertaking outsourcing on the labor market cannot be ignored.Although the research in this article shows that undertaking outsourcing can significantly reduce the skill wage gap,the reduction in the wage gap is mainly due to the fact that China's participation in international trade at this stage is mainly the processing and manufacturing of labor-intensive products.With the steady advancement of the strategy of a strong trade country and the continuous improvement of the discourse power of the industrial chain,the market share of innovation-driven products and productive service products in China's trade products will inevitably continue to expand in the future.This will further stimulate the relative demand for highly skilled labor and widen the skilled wage gap.Therefore,relevant departments must pay sufficient attention and take necessary welfare measures.Otherwise,under the new pattern of international economic and trade,the domestic income distribution gap may be further widened,which will stimulate a series of social conflicts.
Keywords/Search Tags:Undertake Outsourcing, Intermediate Goods Trade, Skill Wage Gap, Wage Polarization
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