What happens during a python module install? Can I just copy the module source to site-packages?

I'm having trouble installing M2Crypto on my shared webhost account with pip. Can I just copy the module's source into site-packages, or does pip do something extra?

I have wondered the same thing in the past. However, I've had no problem installing packages "manually" by downloading them to my desktop, expanding them, then copying the appropriate objects to a sub-folder in my /extras directory (mine is a Django system). Be sure there is an init.py file in there, and I always ensure it will be added to my svn source control.