Bodyshopping Versus Offshoring: Determinants of Outsourcing Behavior by Indian Software and Information Technology Firms

Investigations of offshore outsourcing of information systems have presented little evidence on developing country software and Information Technology (IT) industries. Yet it is these developing country industries that have driven offshoring of software and IT, and their practices are half of the determinants of outsourcing outcomes. This paper probes the determinants in India of a key outsourcing practice, bodyshopping of employees. Given differing labor and transaction costs, different types of firms and clients from different nations and industries are expected to rely to differing degrees on bodyshopping versus pure outsourcing.