Abstract

SALAS, Carlos. Nuevas y viejas máscaras de la subcontratación en el capitalismo contemporáneo*. CDC [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.93, pp.1-14. ISSN 2443-468X.

This article examines the recent trajectory of subcontracting processes and how they are accompanied by the geographical dislocation of production and services, as well as the consolidation production and value chains. It will be shown that these processes follow the intrinsic capitalist logic of achieving greater profitability - which includes lower direct and indirect costs, which from the firm´s perspective include unions and taxes. Therefore, a necessary condition for the expansion of outsourcing processes is institutional change and public policy. In addition, recent productive and organizational changes are accentuated by several important changes and advances in technology, especially in transportation, information and communications technology. Thus, it is possible to show changes and continuities on the specific forms in which outsourcing exists alongside capitalism and we are able to identify the manifold ways by which capitalist firms avoid the direct contract of workers, in the context of a new international division of labor.

Keywords : Subcontracting; Offshoring; Global value chain.