Diasporas and Outsourcing: Evidence from oDesk and India

We examine the role of the Indian diaspora in the outsourcing of work to India. Our data are taken from oDesk, the world's largest online platform for outsourced contracts. Despite oDesk minimizing many of the frictions that diaspora connections have traditionally overcome, diaspora connections...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Management science 2014-07, Vol.60 (7), p.1677-1697
Main Authors: Ghani, Ejaz, Kerr, William R., Stanton, Christopher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to information
Analysis
Bias
Business entities
Diaspora
Diasporas
Electronic commerce
Employers
Ethnicity
Hiring
India
Indians
Information
International economic integration
International trade
Internet
Labor market
Labor markets
Management science
networks
oDesk
Outsourcing
Productivity
South Asia
Studies
Subcontracting
Tacit knowledge
Wages
Wages & salaries
Workers
Working papers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We examine the role of the Indian diaspora in the outsourcing of work to India. Our data are taken from oDesk, the world's largest online platform for outsourced contracts. Despite oDesk minimizing many of the frictions that diaspora connections have traditionally overcome, diaspora connections still matter on oDesk, with ethnic Indians substantially more likely to choose a worker in India. This higher placement is the result of a greater likelihood of choosing India for the initial contract and substantial path dependence in location choices. We further examine wage and performance outcomes of outsourcing as a function of ethnic connections. Our examination of potential rationales for the greater ethnic-based placement of contracts assesses taste-based preferences and information differences. This paper was accepted by Lee Fleming, entrepreneurship and innovation.
ISSN:0025-1909
1526-5501
DOI:10.1287/mnsc.2013.1832