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Strategic Outsourcing with Technology Transfer

Author

Listed:
  • Tarun Kabiraj

    (Indian Statistical Institute)

  • Uday Bhanu Sinha

    (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India)

Abstract

We analyze the outsourcing decision of a firm for a key input of a final good production to an independent input supplier even though the firm has an option of producing that key input in-house at a lower cost with a better technology. We find that for smaller technology gap with the independent input supplier the firm would outsource and for larger technology gap it would produce the input in-house for itself and for its rivals. The outsourcing occurs in order to take advantage of its sale of superior technology to the independent input supplier at a high payment although it involves a high price for the input to be acquired from the monopoly input supplier. Though the firm gains from strategic outsourcing, consumers’ welfare as well as social welfare goes down.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarun Kabiraj & Uday Bhanu Sinha, 2011. "Strategic Outsourcing with Technology Transfer," Working papers 203, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cde:cdewps:203
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kabiraj, Tarun & Sinha, Uday Bhanu, 2016. "Strategic outsourcing with technology transfer under price competition," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 281-290.
    2. Tarun Kabiraj & Uday Bhanu Sinha, 2014. "Strategic Outsourcing with Technology Transfer under Cournot Competition," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(2), pages 1133-1140.
    3. Luciano Fanti & Marcella Scrimitore, 2017. "Hiring a manager or not? When asymmetric equilibria arise under outsourcing to a rival," Discussion Papers 2017/220, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Uday Bhanu Sinha, 2016. "Economies of Scale and (Non)Existence of Strategic Outsourcing in Cournot Duopoly," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1260-1266.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    outsourcing; technology transfer; vertical structure; competition; welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures

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