Working Paper: NBER ID: w20739
Authors: Sascha O. Becker; Marc-Andreas Muendler
Abstract: This paper combines representative worker-level data that cover time-varying job-level task characteristics of an economy over a long time span with sector-level bilateral trade data for merchandize and services. We carefully create longitudinally consistent workplace characteristics from the German Qualification and Career Survey 1979-2006 and prepare trade flow statistics from varying sources. Four main facts emerge: (i) intermediate inputs constitute a major share of imports, and their relevance grows especially in the early decade; (ii) the German workforce increasingly specializes in workplace activities and job requirements that are typically considered non-offshorable, mainly within and not between sectors and occupations; (iii) the imputed activity and job requirement content of German imports grows relatively more intensive in work characteristics typically considered offshorable; and (iv) labour-market institutions at German trade partners are largely unrelated to the changing task content of German imports but German sector-level outcomes exhibit some covariation consistent with faster task offshoring in sectors exposed to lower labour-market tightness. We discuss policy implications of these findings.
Keywords: offshoring; trade patterns; task composition; German labor market
JEL Codes: F14; F16; J23; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increasing share of intermediate inputs in German imports (F12) | Growing relevance of offshoring (F69) |
| Growing relevance of offshoring (F69) | Shift towards less offshorable tasks in the domestic economy (F66) |
| German workforce specializing in non-offshorable activities (J29) | Shift in types of jobs available in the domestic market (F66) |
| Imputed activity and job requirement content of German imports has grown more intensive (F29) | Complexity of tasks associated with those imports increases (F10) |
| Labor market institutions at German trade partners (J08) | Changing task content of German imports (F16) |