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Offshoring and Outsourcing Business Services to Central and Eastern Europe: Some Empirical and Conceptual Considerations

Author

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  • Magdolna Sass
  • Martina Fifekova

Abstract

The global structural shift towards service-based foreign direct investment (FDI) across the world is a relatively recent phenomenon resulting from the increased tradability of services. Although India and Ireland have traditionally been viewed as the main receiver countries, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region is becoming an increasingly popular destination for business service offshoring and outsourcing. The article focuses first on the empirical and conceptual challenges to understanding the offshoring and outsourcing of business services in the context of significant difficulties with their definition, categorization and classification. It discusses the shortcomings of quantitative data and provides a theoretical framework needed to understand the specific patterns of service sector FDI in the context of CEE. Second, the article outlines the current position of CEE countries as destinations for service sector FDI: it analyses the patterns of service sector investment and discusses the reasons for its emergence as a receiver region. The empirical material is drawn from 30 interviews conducted with senior managers in business service foreign investment in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The article concludes that the composition of services FDI flows is changing, reflecting the growth of resource seeking vertical investment in the region. The share of CEE countries in the global flows of this type of investments is still low, but the region shows a growing potential. Its attractiveness is based on a number of factors, like availability of skilled labour with strong language skills, low costs, favourable business and stable political environment, well-developed infrastructure and geographical and cultural proximity to Western Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Magdolna Sass & Martina Fifekova, 2010. "Offshoring and Outsourcing Business Services to Central and Eastern Europe: Some Empirical and Conceptual Considerations," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(9), pages 1593-1609, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:19:y:2010:i:9:p:1593-1609
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2011.586196
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Bradford Jensen & Lori G. Kletzer, 2005. "Tradable Services: Understanding the Scope and Impact of Services Outsourcing," Working Paper Series WP05-9, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    2. Gabor Hunya & Magdolna Sass, 2005. "Coming and Going: Gains and Losses from Relocations Affecting Hungary," wiiw Research Reports 323, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. Bardhan, Ashok Deo & Kroll, Cynthia, 2003. "The New Wave of Outsourcing," Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, Research Reports qt02f8z392, Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, UC Berkeley.
    4. Meyer, Thomas, 2006. "Offshoring to new shores: Nearshoring to Central and Eastern Europe," MPRA Paper 5785, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Magdolna Sass, 2010. "International Fragmentation of Tradable Business Services: the Case of Hungary," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1024, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    6. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, 2005. "Outsourcing and Offshoring: Pushing the European Model Over the Hill, Rather Than Off the Cliff!," Working Paper Series WP05-1, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    7. Nico van Leeuwen & Arjan Lejour, 2006. "Bilateral Services Trade Data and the GTAP database," CPB Memorandum 160, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vrh, Nataša, 2015. "Pay-off to Participation in Global Value Chains: How Much are New EU Member States Lagging behind the Rest of EU Countries in Terms of Domestic Value Added in Exports?," MPRA Paper 67805, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Óscar Rodil-Marzábal & Hugo Campos-Romero, 2021. "The Intra-EU Value Chain: An Approach to Its Economic Dimension and Environmental Impact," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Zoltan Gal, 2013. "New Bangalores - The role of Central and Eastern Europe in business and IT services offshoring," Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, Alliance of Central-Eastern European Universities, vol. 2(3), pages 77-100, September.
    4. Damijan, Jože & Kostevc, Črt & Marek, Philipp & Rojec, Matija, 2015. "Do Manufacturing Firms Benefit from Services FDI? – Evidence from Six New EU Member States," IWH Discussion Papers 5/2015, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    5. repec:wsr:ecbook:2012:i:iv-002 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Wojciech Piotrowicz & Damian Kedziora, 2018. "Outsourcing of Information Technology and Business Processes in Poland: Motivations and Environmental Factors," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 16(4 (Winter), pages 307-333.
    7. Jan Ženka & Josef Novotný & Ondřej Slach & Igor Ivan, 2017. "Spatial Distribution of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services in a Small Post-Communist Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(2), pages 385-406, June.
    8. Magdolna Sass & Miklos Szanyi, 2012. "Two essays on Hungarian relocations," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1223, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    9. Miroslav Beblavý & Lucia Mýtna Kureková, 2016. "Labour regime in the ‘new economy’: The case of software industry in Central Europe," Discussion Papers 38, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI).
    10. Magdolna Sass & Gábor Hunya, 2014. "Escaping to the East? Relocation of business activities to and from Hungary, 2003–2011," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1407, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    11. Magdalena Myszkowska, 2014. "The Scale and Characteristics of Services Offshoring in the Visegrád Countries," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 2(3), pages 33-46.

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