Comment by drewsski

A major factor for many companies is the strength of intellectual property rights and their enforcement. For most tech companies, their IP forms one of their primary moats, so naturally, it follows that they will be adverse to sharing their IP with anyone who is not within a jurisdiction that would honor the contract that outlines those IP rights. Many jurisdictions have IP laws on the books, but they are scarce enforced, making them effectively useless. And even those with relatively decent IP laws, litigating such a matter in a foreign land is not worthwhile for many companies. If it was simply a matter of cost, more companies would willingly engage qualified engineers all over the world, but given the risk of IP compromise or loss, that bargain ends up looking penny wise but pound foolish.