Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms

This paper analyses the production outsourcing of Emilia-Romagna’s small clothing manufacturers, using a new rich firm-level dataset. This dataset has the considerable advantage of containing interesting information about the outsourcing of certain phases of the production process that no other data...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ignazio Drudi, Silvia Pacei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2013-05-01
Series:Statistica
Online Access:http://rivista-statistica.unibo.it/article/view/3651
_version_ 1818514583224057856
author Ignazio Drudi
Silvia Pacei
author_facet Ignazio Drudi
Silvia Pacei
author_sort Ignazio Drudi
collection DOAJ
description This paper analyses the production outsourcing of Emilia-Romagna’s small clothing manufacturers, using a new rich firm-level dataset. This dataset has the considerable advantage of containing interesting information about the outsourcing of certain phases of the production process that no other data source offers. The production process of these firms, which may be of a totally integrated or more fragmented nature, is thus analysed, and the effects of outsourcing are investigated. Since the analysis of the impact of outsourcing at the firm level has always focused more on productivity than on profitability (Olsen 2006), we are going to study the impact of outsourcing decisions both on a firm’s value added and on its gross earnings, by estimating econometric models. These models allow us to incorporate a firm’s outsourcing propensity into the impact evaluation, by adjusting for possible selection bias (Amemija 1985; Schnedler 2005). Our findings show that outsourcing has a positive effect on both productivity and, in particular, on profitability, thus confirming that Italian small clothing businesses tend to place immediate profit before productivity and growth.
first_indexed 2024-12-11T00:17:46Z
format Article
id doaj.art-575f63039d4f4d33b24527288b01abbd
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0390-590X
1973-2201
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-11T00:17:46Z
publishDate 2013-05-01
publisher University of Bologna
record_format Article
series Statistica
spelling doaj.art-575f63039d4f4d33b24527288b01abbd2022-12-22T01:27:52ZengUniversity of BolognaStatistica0390-590X1973-22012013-05-0172333735610.6092/issn.1973-2201/36513397Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firmsIgnazio Drudi0Silvia Pacei1Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di BolognaAlma Mater Studiorum - Università di BolognaThis paper analyses the production outsourcing of Emilia-Romagna’s small clothing manufacturers, using a new rich firm-level dataset. This dataset has the considerable advantage of containing interesting information about the outsourcing of certain phases of the production process that no other data source offers. The production process of these firms, which may be of a totally integrated or more fragmented nature, is thus analysed, and the effects of outsourcing are investigated. Since the analysis of the impact of outsourcing at the firm level has always focused more on productivity than on profitability (Olsen 2006), we are going to study the impact of outsourcing decisions both on a firm’s value added and on its gross earnings, by estimating econometric models. These models allow us to incorporate a firm’s outsourcing propensity into the impact evaluation, by adjusting for possible selection bias (Amemija 1985; Schnedler 2005). Our findings show that outsourcing has a positive effect on both productivity and, in particular, on profitability, thus confirming that Italian small clothing businesses tend to place immediate profit before productivity and growth.http://rivista-statistica.unibo.it/article/view/3651
spellingShingle Ignazio Drudi
Silvia Pacei
Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
Statistica
title Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
title_full Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
title_fullStr Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
title_full_unstemmed Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
title_short Who benefits from outsourcing? A study of one italian region’s small firms
title_sort who benefits from outsourcing a study of one italian region s small firms
url http://rivista-statistica.unibo.it/article/view/3651
work_keys_str_mv AT ignaziodrudi whobenefitsfromoutsourcingastudyofoneitalianregionssmallfirms
AT silviapacei whobenefitsfromoutsourcingastudyofoneitalianregionssmallfirms