Globalization, R&D and the iPod Cycle

This paper constructs a dynamic scale-free North-South model of trade with endogenous innovation. In the North a local-sourcing-targeted race and an outsourcing-targeted R&D race take place simultaneously within each industry. The former results in the winner firm manufacturing in the North, while the latter culminates in the winner firm's immediate outsourcing to the South, generating the iPod cycle. We study three aspects of globalization: reductions in the resource-requirement in outsourcing-targeted R&D, increased subsidies to outsourced production, and reduced Southern imitation due to TRIPs. Each event boosts outsourcing-targeted R&D and increases the frequency of iPod cycles. The aggregate innovation rate rises despite a possible fall in local-sourcing-targeted R&D, and the North-South relative wage decreases.