We critically consider the conventional belief that the attractiveness of international outsourcing lies in cheaper labour costs overseas and that it offers a means to ‘escape’ the power of unions. We develop an oligopoly model in which firms facing unionised domestic labour market choose...

We develop an oligopoly model in which firms facing unionised domestic labor markets choose between producing an intermediate good in-house and outsourcing it to a nonunionised foreign supplier that makes a relationship-specific investment in developing the intermediate. The paper sheds light on...

We study the make-or-buy decision of oligopolistic firms in an industry in which final good production requires specialized inputs. Firms' mode of operation decision depends on both the incentive to economize on costs and on strategic considerations. We explore the strategic incentives to...