Title: Offshore outsourcing and political risk: India in 2004

Authors: Niranjan Chipalkatti; Bruce Koch; Meenakshi Rishi

Addresses: Albers School of Business and Economics, Seattle University, 901, 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122, USA ' Albers School of Business and Economics, Seattle University, 901, 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122, USA ' Department of Economics, Albers School of Business and Economics, Seattle University, 901, 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122, USA

Abstract: The results of the 2004 Indian elections were surprising as the victory of the Congress party was unforeseen by most pre-poll and exit surveys. The unexpected political change, with an associated shift from a centre-right to a centre-left government presented an unanticipated discontinuity in the business environment. We examine whether US companies that had offshored to India faced heightened levels of political risk when election results were announced. A unique contribution of the paper is that we also examine whether US companies that offshored to India in early-2004, faced greater political risk than companies that offshored to the country in 2002 and 2003. Results indicate an increase in political risk as manifested as an increase in systematic risk. Companies that offshored in 2004 faced greater political risk as compared to companies that offshored earlier. Our findings validate the use of a political risk premium when evaluating offshore ITES projects.

Keywords: offshore outsourcing; political risk premium; democracy; Indian elections; political coalitions; systematic risk; firm returns; India; US firms; USA; United States.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEM.2013.056708

International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 2013 Vol.5 No.4, pp.285 - 303

Received: 27 Feb 2012
Accepted: 07 Sep 2012
Published online: 13 Nov 2013 *

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