國際代工, 壟斷性競爭和福利

International Outsourcing, Monopolistic Competition, and Welfare

本文建立一簡單的南國-北國貿易模型，在此模型中，當產業內貿易和代工貿易共存時，代工貿易的增加雖則降低了產品價格因而提高了勞工的實質工資，卻減少了消費者的產品多樣性 (南國所生產)。然而，這並不必須表示消費者的福利因代工貿易而減少，因為北國所生產的產品多樣性會因代工南國而增加。結果，消費者的總產品多樣性淨增加。特別的是，南國在技術上超趕北國而導致的代工貿易的增加，會使得二國消費者的福利都增加：因其一方面使南國和北國勞工的實質工資都提高，另一方面也增加了消費者的產品多樣性。

In this paper, I present a simple North-South model to show that international outsourcing trade, on one hand, decreases product varieties (generated by the South) but increases product varieties (generated by the North) on the other hand. However, the latter dominates the former. As a result, in a world of a mixture of intra-industry and international outsourcing trade, welfare improves with an increase in real wage rates and total product varieties available to consumers. Furthermore, this model also implies that the South’s technology catch-up is a driving force for welfare improvement, leading to a greater diversity of consumption and a higher real wage in both the North and South.