The growth in the outsourcing of services has become one of the most
relevant features of the changes in manufacturing firms¿ behaviour. This
paper provides empirical evidence about the extent and evolution of
services outsourcing by Spanish manufacturing firms in 1990-1998. A
general increase in outsourcing of services has been detected among firms
in this period, although with strong differences across sectors and kind of
services. Additionally, this paper studies the decision to outsource, devoting
particular attention to the relationship between outsourcing and
productivity. The results show the influence of variables such as firm size,
ownership and location, among others
