Introduction

Offshoring has been gaining momentum in the managerial and academic discussion of the activity of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the organization of the value chain. There are several motivations to consider for the centrality of offshoring in the scientific debate. First, this phenomenon spread fast due to facilitating factors such as the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the lowering of trade barriers. Second, the rapid diffusion of offshoring has radically changed the structure of many manufacturing and service industries (Davies, 2004).

In practice, the concept of offshoring is used to indicate various phenomena such as delocalization of firm's activities to remote and low-cost countries (Pfannenstein and Tsai, 2004; Robinson and Kalakota, 2004), foreign direct investment (FDI), international manufacturing and, more generally, relocation of value chain activities globally. Building on this broad definition, offshoring is simultaneously a cause and a consequence of international labor division and globalization (Jahns et al., 2006).

Vertical disintegration (Jacobides, 2005) is driven by the desire of firms to match the comparative advantage of foreign locations with their own resources and competencies, so as to maximize their competitive advantage (Kogut, 1985; Mudambi and Venzin, 2008). The definition of entire industries and their competitive dynamics are changing radically, even for those firms that do not modify their level of vertical integration in the home country. On one hand, offshoring modifies the industry structure through the emergence of new intermediaries (and new intermediate markets).