The Colombian Outsourcing and Offshoring Industry : The Effects of Institutions and Agglomeration Economies

While the Latin American outsourcing and offshoring industry is largely dominated and overshadowed by Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, Colombia is emerging as a major challenger. Global and local companies are expanding their operations to mid-sized cities in the country. There is also some evidence that the Colombian outsourcing industry is slipping into a higher gear and moving towards high-value, data and knowledge-based services. In this paper, we seek to understand formal and informal institutions and the factors associated with economies of agglomeration in the Colombian outsourcing and offshoring industry