The Role of Institutional Context in Backshoring Decisions

Abstract

Based on in-depth case studies from a high-cost environment, we identify context-specific aspects as important motivating factors for decision-makers re-evaluating the previous offshoring decisions. This chapter sheds light on the complexity of backshoring motives by adding a meso level, illustrating how case companies’ sourcing decisions evolve alongside the institutional context at a regional level. Further, the chapter provides a deeper understanding of the motives that underlay backshoring decisions and argues that these motivating factors differ from a broader set of drivers that can be found within the existing frameworks of backshoring.

Citation

Halse, L.L., Nujen, B.B. and Solli-Sæther, H. (2019), "The Role of Institutional Context in Backshoring Decisions", Tulder, R.V., Verbeke, A. and Jankowska, B. (Ed.) International Business in a VUCA World: The Changing Role of States and Firms (Progress in International Business Research, Vol. 14), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 251-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220190000014014