Work

Labor outsourcing and corporate innovation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of labor outsourcing on innovation, using manually collected data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2022. The results indicate that labor outsourcing significantly enhances firms’ innovation level. This relationship is primarily driven by improvements in financial flexibility and operational flexibility. Furthermore, we find that this positive relationship is more pronounced for firms facing high financial constraints and economic policy uncertainty, and firms located in regions with low population aging. The findings also suggest that labor outsourcing encourages enterprises to prioritize innovations with low rather than high originality.

Source: China Journal of Accounting Research

DOI: 10.1016/j.cjar.2025.100407

Authors: Wenbin Yang, Jiaqi Mou, Li Ji

Institutions: China West Normal University, Xihua University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

Language: English

Topic: Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management

Subfield: Management Information Systems

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,800