Understanding opportunity discovery and sustainable advantage: the role of transaction costs and property rights

Abstract

To add insight in new value creation, opportunity discovery should be integrated with strategic management theory. Based on the resource‐based view and the economics of property rights, we build a framework that accomplishes this. Our key argument is that property rights and transaction costs are important antecedents of opportunity discovery. We identify two mechanisms that establish this influence and examine alternative ways in which knowledge, transaction costs, and property rights influence opportunity discovery and sustainable advantage. Copyright © 2008 Strategic Management Society.