The resource-based view revisited: Comparative firm advantage, willingness-based isolating mechanisms and competitive heterogeneity

Abstract

We take a step beyond the resource-based view that resource characteristics (i.e., valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable) are the sole basis for isolating mechanisms. Instead, we apply Ricardo's principle of Comparative Advantage in a two-firm, two-product scenario to show how additional isolating mechanisms can result from economic incentives that provide managers with distinct strategic choices. Specifically, our analysis indicates that managers' strategic decisions based on comparative firm advantage (CFA) affect their willingness to imitate competitors, even when their firms are fully capable of such imitation. This willingness, in turn, helps to determine the direction of firm expansion. We discuss how Ricardo's CFA logic can provide specific guidance for managers regarding effective firm strategies in specific comparative advantage situations by factoring in both internal efficiencies and competitive pressures when designing and implementing rent-seeking strategies. © 2010 EURAM Macmillan Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.