Modularity and the organization of international production
- 作者：Ari Van Assche
- 关键词：Modularity ; Input specificity ; Outsourcing ; Offshoring ; Co-evolution
- 刊名：Japan and the World Economy
- 出版年：2008
- 期刊代码：26_09221425
- 类别：eco
- 出版时间：August 2008
- 卷：20
- 期：3
- 页码：353-368
- 文件大小：209 K
摘要
In recent decades, the global electronics industry has experienced a large reorganization. U.S. electronics firms have on a large scale off-shored and outsourced their manufacturing activities. Japanese electronics firms have offshored a large portion of their manufacturing, but have remained vertically integrated. To account for these industry trends, we build an two-country industry-equilibrium model in which firms concurrently choose (i) a product architecture, (ii) an ownership structure and (iii) a location for production. We demonstrate that technological advances that allow firms to more easily modularize their products can explain the co-evolving trends of offshoring and outsourcing. We also assess the role of technology on the different patterns of reorganization between Japanese and U.S. firms.