Journal Article

Cluster Capabilities or Ethnic Ties? Location Choice by Foreign and Domestic Entrants in the Services Offshoring Industry in India

Lamin, Anna, Zaheer, Srilata, Subramani, Mani

2009

Overview

We contrast the knowledge spillovers perspective, which focuses on the externalities that arise from locating in a cluster, with the social ties perspective, which emphasizes resource flow through ethnic connections, arguing that these factors differentially influence the location decisions of foreign and domestic entrants in the services-offshoring industry in India. We develop a typology of the capabilities involved in the offshoring of services and, using 108 location decisions across 11 city clusters, find that ethnic networks exert greater influence than cluster capabilities on location decisions, although, as expected, the effect is stronger and more widespread in the case of Indian rather than foreign firms.

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan,Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Subject: Business and Management / Business organization / Business services / Business Strategy/Leadership / Business structures / Business studies / Chief executive officers / Cities / Computer software / Corporate planning / Corporate Strategies / Customer services / Decisions / Economic growth / Economic resources / Economic theory / Entrepreneurs / Ethnicity / Externality / Foreign companies / Geographic regions / India / Industrial sites / Information technology / International Business / Knowledge / Knowledge transfer / Location of industry / Management / Network industries / Offshoring / Organization / Organizational Designs / Outsourcing / Part Special Issue: Offshoring Administrative and Technical Work: Implications for Globalization / Service industries / Service industry / Services / Social networks / Studies / Subcontracting