Services Offshoring and its Impact on Productivity and Employment: Evidence from Germany, 1995-2006

摘要

Ntensifying globalisation processes have coincided with low economic growth rates and high unemployment in Germany, especially in the 1990s. Globalisation in the economic sense comprises the transnational movement of factors of production, goods and services, which is reflected in a higher integration of international goods, money and capital markets. Trade and investment flows in particular have increased, which often leads to the one-sided conclusion that growing globalisation causes negative labour market effects. In Germany, the discussion of offshoring-induced labour market effects has gained momentum in recent years. Opponents of globalisation equate German outward foreign direct investment with German job losses, whereas many economists praise the removal of barriers to foreign trade and investment based on an expectation of increased economic efficiency.