Offshore assembly and short-run labor-labor substitution

Zusammenfassung Offshore-Fertigung und die kurzfristige Substitution von Arbeit durch Arbeit. - Dieser Artikel untersucht die kurzfristige Produktionsbeziehung bei der Offshore-Fertigung und benutzt als Beispiel die elektronische Industrie Taiwans. Gelernte und ungelernte Arbeiter erweisen sich als Substitute, und beide sind komplement?r zu den Angestellten. Rohstoffe sind ein Substitut für alle Arten von Arbeitskr?ften. Er?rtert werden die Implikationen, die sich aus der Lohnpolitik in Entwicklungsl?ndern und aus den Zollbestimmungen der Industriel?nder für die Offshore-Fertigung ergeben. Hervorgehoben wird die bedeutende Rolle und Unentbehrlichkeit von Angestellten für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung.

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Résumé Assemblage ?hors douane? et la substitution main d’oeuvre - main d’oeuvre à court terme. - Dans cet article les auteurs analysent les relations de production à court terme à l’assemblage ?hors douane? en utilisant le cas de l’industrie électronique taiwanaise. Les auteurs démontrent que les travailleurs qualifiés et nonqualifiés sont des substituts pour l’un à l’autre et que les deux types de travailleurs sont complémentaires aux travailleurs ?collet blanc?. Les matières premières sont un substitut pour tous les types de la main d’oeuvre. Les conséquences des politiques salariales des pays en voie de développement et le traitement tarifaire de l’assemblage ?hors douane? utilisé par des pays industriels sont discutées. Le róle important et l’indispensabilité des travailleurs ?collet blanc? pour le développement sont considérés.

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Resumen Zonas francas para ensamblaje y sustitución de trabajo por trabajo en el corto plazo. - En este trabajo se investiga la función de producción en zonas francas para ensamblaje partiendo del caso de la industria electrónica de Taiwan. Los trabajadores de la producción calificados y no calificados resultan ser sustitutos, mientras que ambas categoríes resultan complementarias a la de los empleados administratives. Los insumos materiales son sustitutos de las tres categorías de trabajo. Se discuten las implicaciones de las políticas salariales de los países en desarrollo y los aranceles aplicados a productos ensamblados en zonas francas por los países industrializados. Se consideran el papel importante y el carácter indespensable de los empleados administrative para el desarrollo económico.

     

Resource rivalry and endogenous lobby

We present a two-sector model to depict the determination of trade preference. The model highlights lobby as a rivalry between sectors in competition for resources where the outcome of the lobby race is determined by each sector’s ability to generate rent at a given welfare cost to the general population. We investigate the relation between the structure of trade protection and the resource endowment.     

Resource dependency and parent–subsidiary capability transfers

In this paper, we treat the multinational firm as an internal market in which various business units compete for scarce resources. By using the resource dependence theory to examine the parent–subsidiary relationship, we view this relationship as more of a political coalition than a hierarchy. We studied the pattern of capability transfers from the headquarters to the subsidiary to highlight this relationship. Using Taiwan-based multinational firms as the sample, our results show that the pattern is more reminiscent of a power game than an effort to maximize global efficiency. In essence, a triangular power play between the headquarters, subsidiary, and local networks determines the extent to which firm-specific capabilities are to be transferred abroad. It is almost certain that capabilities will never be completely transferred. A subsidiary can leverage local market potential to prompt more capability transfers from the headquarters, but any inclinations for the subsidiary to differentiate itself from the parent will discourage such transfers.     

Foreign direct investment as a strategic linkage

This article studies the pattern of Taiwanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in light of strategic linkage theory. Measuring the level of proprietary asset by technological capability and scale of operation, we found that firms possessing higher levels of proprietary assets invest in more advanced host countries. Through FDI, higher levels of proprietary assets are linked to higher levels of strategic assets, which in turn enhance the technological and marketing capabilities of investing firms. Firms better endowed with proprietary assets are also shown to be more inclined to make multiple investments and more capable of investing in countries which are psychologically and geographically distant from Taiwan. In contrast, firms with low levels of proprietary assets seek linkages to nonstrategic assets in a single country which is psychologically and geographically close to Taiwan. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On the-job training as a cause of brain drain

On-the-Job Training as a Cause of Brain Drain. —This paper presents a simple model based on the assertion that the efficacy of on-the-job training, as well as the productivity of skills, depends on the social stock of capital. It shows that as the degree of this dependency of on-the-job training upon capital stock increases, the problem of brain drain becomes more severe and more difficult to correct. The model may explain why the failure of foreign-educated students to repatriate is a more prevalent form of brain drain than outright migration of skilled labor. It is consistent with the repatriation pattern of Taiwanese students who received post-secondary education in Japan.     

Production Networks and Patterns of Trade: Evidence from Taiwan

This paper investigates the role of production networks in determining the pattern of international trade. Using Taiwan's trade data for 1991, production networks are found to have a discernible impact on the pattern of trade, aside from the variables typically envisaged by conventional and new trade theories, including factor proportions and technological difference. Taiwan's industries are shown to be relatively strong in horizontal networks, but weak in vertical ones. However, the strength in horizontal networks can be undermined by high wages, and the weakness in vertical networks can be strengthened by high R&D intensities. Both networks are conducive to intra-industry trade, which means that networks are useful devices for product differentiation.