The Direct and Indirect Effect of Services Offshoring on Local Labour Market Outcomes

The study proves evidence of five new empirical facts on the impact of services offshoring on local labour markets. First, services offshoring increases average employment and wages within local labour markets, much more so in the manufacturing industry than in the services one. Second, positive effects are both on firms directly offshoring services and on non-offshoring firms located in the same local labour market of offshoring ones. Third, larger firms and those paying higher wages benefit the most from local market services offshoring, rising the gap between firms. Fourth, services offshoring widens the differences between workers with those in managerial and professional occupations or with a higher level of education benefiting the most. Finally, the interpretation of a local labour market is pivotal for the results: local area and sector-local area specifications reveal positive impacts of services offshoring, opposite to sectoral one.