互联网、离岸与技术进步的要素偏向:一个全球视野

Internet,Offshoring and Factor Bias of Technological Progress,A Global Perspective

文章首先通过理论模型分析了互联网在企业离岸决策过程中起到的作用,探讨了互联网是否通过促进企业离岸活动而改变技术进步的要素偏向这一问题。然后将其引入有偏技术进步的经典模型中,发现互联网的普及使企业有能力将工序离岸到更远的地方以利用其潜在的低成本劳动力,从而促进了离岸的发展。离岸又进一步降低了企业的平均工资水平,使其与劳动力互补的技术有更大的市场规模,最终使得技术进步的劳动力偏向增强而资本偏向减弱。文章基于WIOD数据库的实证分析也证实了存在互联网通过促进离岸使得技术进步和劳动力偏向增强的链条关系,且采用动态面板的分析结果显示,仅存在显著的中介效应而不存在显著的直接效应。

This paper discusses whether the Internet can alter the global factor bias of technological progress by promoting offshoring.Our theoretical model firstly analyzes what kind of role did the Internet play during offshoring decision making process and the Internet was introduced into classical model of biased technological progress.The article finds that the proliferation of the Internet has facilitated offshoring by giving companies the ability to offshore processes further afield to take advantage of their potentially low-cost labor force.It further reduces the average wage of enterprises,enlarges labor complementary technology producers’market scale larger,and finally makes technological progress bias towards labor.The empirical analysis based on WIOD database also confirmed the existence of this mechanism and dynamic panel analysis revealed that mediating effect was significant while direct effect was not.