R&D Offshoring and Home Industry Productivity

Abstract

Offshoring research and development (R&D) commonly invokes concerns regarding the loss of high value jobs and a hollowing out of technological capabilities, but it can also benefit domestic firms by enabling them to tap into the global technological frontier. We study the effect of R&D offshoring on industrial productivity in the home country using industry-level data for 18 OECD countries over a 26-year period. Simultaneity between productivity and R&D offshoring is addressed by using foreign tax policy as an instrument for offshored R&D. We show that R&D offshoring contributes positively to productivity in the home country, irrespective of the host country destination.