TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Benfratello, Luigi
AU  - Razzolini, Tiziano
AU  - Sembenelli, Alessandro
        TI  - Does ICT Investment Spur or Hamper Offshoring? Empirical Evidence from Microdata
        PY  - 2015/Jul/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 9239
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp9239
        AB  - We provide evidence on the effect of ICT investment on the propensity to offshore for a sample of Italian manufacturing firms. To deal with the endogeneity of ICT investment we adopt an innovative identification strategy based on the availability of local broad band facilities. Contrary to previous literature focusing on services, we find a negative effect of ICT on offshoring. Furthermore, when splitting the sample according to the technological level, the effect is negative and significant only in the sub-sample of low-tech firms. This suggests that ICT capital substitutes for foreign workers in performing routine tasks in low-tech industries.
        KW  - ICT Investment
KW  - offshoring
KW  - maximum likelihood system estimation
        ER  -