AOC: Globalization and Offshore Sourcing of Knowledge Work: Economic, Relational and Informaton & Computer Technology Dynamics

知识工作的离岸外包是经济全球化中的一个相对较新的前沿。包括产品设计、软件开发和业务流程在内的知识工作正日益向台湾、印度、中国、菲律宾和爱尔兰等地转移，而且这一趋势并未显示出放缓的迹象。一些人经常辩称，知识工作向海外转移将导致美国失去数百万个工作岗位。其他人则提出，整个经济将获得显著的成本和效率收益，即使更成熟的行业将工作转移到海外，较新的创业公司和行业也将创造就业机会。鉴于这些相互矛盾的观点和潜在影响，这个问题引起了美国公司、工人和政策制定者的极大兴趣和担忧。目前缺乏的是对这一现象背后的动力、它可能会变得多大以及其后果可能是什么的坚实的实证理解。第一步是密切关注公司的采购决策以及影响它们的因素。最明显的是经济因素，特别是美国和其他国家在工资率和其他成本方面的差异。此外，与地理位置接近或社交网络相关的关系因素也可能发挥作用。最后，信息和计算机技术(ICT)可以用于提高美国知识工作者的生产率，帮助将工作留在国内，还可以通过更好地协调跨国界和地理距离的活动来促进离岸外包。为了了解知识工作的离岸外包及其潜在的范围和影响，拟议的研究将解决以下问题：1)在决定知识工作是否转移到海外的过程中，经济和关系因素以及信通技术的动态是什么？2)这些动态如何根据知识活动的性质和成熟度而有所不同，以及3)采购决策对公司业绩的影响，以及对美国就业的潜在影响？这项研究将由一个来自经济学、计算机科学和管理学的多学科团队在两个相互关联的活动中进行：(1)对8家公司进行密集的定性实地调查，旨在生成理论模型和正式假设；(2)通过对800家公司的大规模调查样本进行量化分析，以完善、正式和测试该模型。更广泛的影响这项研究具有社会意义，因为知识活动的海外转移对美国经济繁荣具有重要影响，可能会影响就业、贸易、创新和行业竞争。重要的是要知道，可以转移到海外的知识型工作的数量是否有限制。同样重要的是要了解信息和通信技术的部署是否可能成为美国公司和工人的竞争优势来源，或者它们的全球传播是否将倾向于与其他国家公平竞争。最后，重要的是要衡量离岸外包对企业绩效的影响，以了解成本和收益。

SBE-0527180Kenneth KraemerThe offshore sourcing of knowledge work is a relatively new frontier in economic globalization. There is a growing shift in knowledge work, including product design, software development and business processes, to places such as Taiwan, India, China, the Philippines and Ireland, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Some often argue that the shift of knowledge work offshore will lead to the loss of millions of U.S. jobs. Others make the case that there will be significant cost and efficiency gains for the whole economy, and that jobs will be created in newer entrepreneurial firms and industries even as more mature industries move work offshore. Given these conflicting views and potential impacts, the issue is of great interest and concern to U.S. companies, workers and policy makers. What is currently lacking is a solid empirical understanding of the dynamics underlying this phenomenon, how large it may become, and what its consequences might be. A first step is to look closely at the sourcing decisions of firms and the factors that influence them. The most obvious are economic factors, in particular, differences in wage rates and other costs between the U.S. and other countries. In addition, relational factors associated with geographical proximity or social networks are likely to come into play. Finally, information and computer technologies (ICTs) can be used to improve the productivity of U.S. knowledge workers and help keep work onshore, but also can facilitate offshoring by enabling better coordination of activities across borders and geographic distance. In order to understand the offshore sourcing of knowledge work, and its potential scope and impacts, the proposed research will address the following questions: 1) What are the dynamics of economic and relational factors and ICTs in determining whether knowledge work is moved offshore? 2) How do these dynamics differ depending on the nature and maturity of a knowledge activity, and 3) What are the impacts of sourcing decisions on firm performance, and the potential impacts on employment in the U.S.? The research will be conducted by a multidisciplinary team from economics, computer science and management in two interrelated activities: (1) intensive qualitative fieldwork in eight companies aimed at generating a theoretical model and formal hypotheses, and (2) quantitative analysis to refine, formalize and test the model on a large-scale survey sample of 800 firms. Broader ImpactThe research is socially significant because overseas relocation of knowledge-based activities has important implications for U.S. economic prosperity, potentially affecting jobs, trade, innovation, and industry competition. It is important to know whether there are limits to the amount of knowledge-based work that can be relocated offshore. It is also important to understand whether the deployment of ICTs might be a source of competitive advantage for U.S. firms and workers, or whether their global diffusion will tend to level the playing field with other countries. Finally, it is important to measure the effects of offshore sourcing on firm performance, in order to understand the both costs and benefits.