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Chapter 28: Q. 28.4. - For Critical Thinking (page 624)

Explain what labor outsourcing is and how it affects U.S. wages and employment.

Short Answer

Expert verified

An increase in employment in Total, Retail Trade, Services, or Government should result in the same year-to-year relative change in wages. Americans work in higher-skilled occupations. Outsourcing, it is argued, eliminates immediate employment opportunities for unskilled US labour.

Step by step solution

01

Introduction.

From the standpoint of enterprise management, labour outsourcing refers to the type of work in which enterprises have certain tasks completed by the labour force provided by an external service provider in order to reduce costs, promote efficiency, and increase competitiveness.

02

Relation between Wages and Employment.

The stronger the relationship between employment and wages, the closer the correlation number is to one. Because the correlation number for these industries is close to one, an increase in employment in Total, Retail Trade, Services, or Government should result in the same relative change in wages from year to year.

03

Reason for labor outsourcing affects U.S. wages and employment. 

When manufacturing products does not necessitate a high level of skill, companies that outsource to foreign countries usually hire less skilled workers. As a result, Americans hold higher-skilled jobs. It is argued that outsourcing eliminates immediate job opportunities for unskilled US labour.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Suppose that until recently, U.S. firms that produce digital apps had been utilizing only the labor of qualified U.S. workers at a wage rate of \(35 per hour. Now, however, these firms have begun engaging in labor outsourcing to Russia, where qualified workers are available at a dollar wage rate of \)15 per hour. Evaluate the effects of this new U.S. app-labor outsourcing initiative on U.S. and Russian employment levels and wages.

Other things being equal, how would a firm adjust if the market clearing wage rate for older workers decreases relative to the market clearing wage rate for younger workers? Explain briefly.

28-8. A firm hires labor in a perfectly competitive labor market. Its current profit-maximizing hourly output is 100units, which the firm sells at a price of \(5per unit. The marginal produce of the last unit of labor employed is 5units per hour. The firm pays each worker an hourly wage of \)15.

a. What marginal revenue does the firm earn, from the sale of the output produced by the last worker employed?

b. Does this firm sell its output in a perfectly competitive market?

Explain how the following events would affect the demand for labor.

a. A new education program administered by the company increases labor's marginal product.

b. The firm completes a new plant with a larger workspace and new machinery that workers can utilize and that does not substitute for the functions provided by workers' labor.

If more firms were to find ways to induce larger numbers of workers to hold true to labor supply commitments, would the market labor supply curve tend to shift to the left or to the right? Explain your reasoning.

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