Work

Multinationals, Offshoring and the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing

Year: 2019

Type: report

Abstract: We provide new facts about the role of multinationals in the decline in U.S. manufacturing employment between 1993 and 2011, using a novel microdata panel with firm-level ownership and trade information. Multinational-owned establishments displayed lower employment growth than a narrow control group and accounted for 41% of the aggregate decline. Newly multinational establishments experienced job losses, while their parent firms increased foreign input imports. We develop a model that rationalizes this behavior and bound a key elasticity with our microdata. The estimates imply that multinational offshoring was responsible for a sizable reduction in U.S. manufacturing employment.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w25824

Authors: Christoph Boehm, Aaron Flaaen, Nitya Pandalai-Nayar

Institutions: The University of Texas at Austin, Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Language: English

Topic: Global trade and economics

Subfield: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2548764451

Cites:

Cited by: 28

Related to: 10