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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2451/29868
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| Title: | An Empirical Study of Online Software Outsourcing: Signals under
Different Contract Regimes |
| Authors: | Lin, Mingfeng - University of Maryland
Viswanathan, Siva - University of Maryland
Agarwal, Ritu - University of Maryland |
| Issue Date: | 2010 |
| Series/Report no.: | Net Institute Working Paper;10-22 |
| Abstract: | We study whether and how contractual arrangements (fixed price vs.
time-and-materials contracts) change the effect of reputation,
certification, and language characteristics on the chances of winning
outsourcing contracts. Using a comprehensive dataset from an online
outsourcing marketplace, we model how buyers choose among bidding
vendors, and how the effects of these variables change under different
contract forms. Our results show that online reputation is an important
predictor of success only for fixed-price contracts, but not significant
for times-and-materials contracts. In other words, contract forms can
mitigate the typical Matthew Effect associated with online reputation
systems. Contrary to popular belief, certifications do not increase the
chances of winning regardless of the contract forms. Linguistic features
of private communications from the vendor to the buyer also affect the
chances of winning, and different dimensions have different effects when
contract forms change. Our study is one of the first to study the
interaction between contract formats and different signals that vendors
can reveal to buyers in the competitive bidding process, and is also one
of the first to investigate how texts of private communications affect
buyers' contracting decisions. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2451/29868 |
| Appears in Collections: | NET Institute Working Papers Series
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