The extant literature on offshore outsourcing has focused on large traditional multinational enterprises from the OECD countries, and on their decisions to relocate production- and operations-related activities outside their home country in order to enhance their performance. By contrast, we examine the strategy of firms from emerging economies outsourcing knowledge-intensive activities abroad to improve their competitiveness. Using panel data of 1655 Indian firms over a 13-year period, we find that offshore outsourcing of knowledge-intensive resources makes firms more competitive in the international market, enhancing their exports and financial performance. Moreover, the positive impact of offshore outsourcing on firm profitability is greater as international sales increase. We offer new theoretical contributions and propose managerial implications for firms from emerging markets.

现有的关于离岸外包的文献主要关注来自经合组织国家的大型传统跨国企业，以及他们将生产和运营相关活动转移到本国以外以提高业绩的决定。相比之下，我们研究了新兴经济体公司将知识密集型活动外包到国外以提高竞争力的战略。使用 1655 家印度公司 13 年的面板数据，我们发现知识密集型资源的离岸外包使公司在国际市场上更具竞争力，提高了出口和财务业绩。此外，随着国际销售额的增加，离岸外包对公司盈利能力的积极影响更大。