Old Pif
depends on the company. Lucent Technologies is the most widely held stock in the US -and it is still a large company (albeit on the decline).
yes -perception and marketing are pre-requisites to starting a trend. But it can only be sustained if the results are in line with perception. So, failure or bad performance will negate perception and send jobs back to the US. It has been many years since offshoring started and the fact that it is picking rather than losing steam points to a less-desirable situation for americans.
one of the things mentioned in trade theory is that "if labour costs less in another country, but the overheads of dealing with untrained manpower are more, then it pays (hurts not) to spend money to train them and reap the results-profits rather than to retain expensive manpower". I haven't quoted the exact wordings -but if I find it, I will post a link. Many countries to which industries in manufacturing have shifted never had trained manpower and probably experienced failures -but over time, the manpower adapted-improvised and as you can see in China-Taiwan-mexico etc.. -the work seems to be going on quite well.
If you were to talk to blue- collar workers or those employed in some other industries that did shift in the past -they will tell you the jobs never did return back. The notion that people in cheaper locations will be inherently stupid and-or incapable of matching the american workforce is just not grounded in reality. If people living in first world countries aren;t biologically superior -there is a good chance that a shift of industries to cheaper locations will pay off -as it seems to have,
regards -kamal
