Offshoring & Price Measurement in the Semiconductor Industry

The recent growth in offshore outsourcing of intermediate input production makes it especially critical that statistical agencies are able to accurately measure quality-adjusted trade flows. This paper focuses in particular on the implications of global production sharing for measuring the price of semiconductors, a critical input to high-end domestic manufacturing and U.S. productivity growth. Transaction-level data on semiconductor wafer fabrication around the world, including prices and detailed information on key physical attributes of semiconductor wafers, is analyzed.

This paper was prepared for the conference “Measurement Issues Arising from the Growth of Globalization,” sponsored by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and the National Academy of Public Administration. GSA's Wafer Fabrication Pricing data was used in the analysis.

New York Times Article on Conference

Offshoring and Price Measurement in the Semiconductor Industry (PDF) (Note: Additions/updates will be made to this paper throughout 2010. Please refer back to this link for the most up-to-date version.)