The use of resource-based theory (RBT) in marketing research has increased by more than 500% in the past decade, which suggests its importance as a framework for explaining and predicting competitive advantages and performance outcomes. This article provides a comprehensive review of RBT, including a contemporary definitional foundation for relevant terms and assumptions and a synthesis of empirical findings from marketing literature. This multidimensional analysis of RBT also evaluates extant marketing research according to four perspectives: the marketing domains that use RBT, the characteristics and uses of market-based resources that differentiate it from other research contexts, the extension of RBT to the “marketing exchange” as a unit of analysis, and the connection of RBT to related theories. This analysis also reveals some common pitfalls associated with prior research, offers tentative guidelines on how to improve the use of RBT in marketing, and suggests research directions to advance the theorization and empirical testing of RBT in the future.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2445784_code2253223.pdf?abstractid=2445784&mirid=1&type=2

Resource-Based Theory in Marketing

Drawing on transaction cost theories and the resource-based view of a firm, we posit that the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is greater in countries where an absence of market-supporting institutions increases transaction costs and limits access to resources. Using a large sample of 11,672 firm-year observations representing 2445 unique firms from 53 countries during 2003–2010 and controlling for firm-level unobservable heterogeneity, we find supportive evidence that CSR is more positively related to firm value in countries with weaker market institutions. We also provide evidence on the channels through which CSR initiatives reduce transaction costs. We find that CSR is associated with improved access to financing in countries with weaker equity and credit markets, greater investment and lower default risk in countries with more limited business freedom, and longer trade credit period and higher future sales growth in countries with weaker legal institutions. Our findings provide new insights on non-market mechanisms such as CSR through which firms can compensate for institutional voids.

/pdf/country-level-institutions-firm-value-and-the-role-of-k4dqmumwhc.pdf

Country-level institutions, firm value, and the role of corporate social responsibility initiatives

Annual report content analysis is used to explore corporate strategy and elements of risk and return. Sets of reports from three industries, food processing, computer peripherals, and containers, show relationships which are otherwise difficult to obtain and which can be tested for validity. Revealed are a negative correlation of risk and return between companies within industries, and a tendency of troubled companies to seek risk. Profits following higher risk positions are explored in light of current finance theory using content analysis.

Content Analysis of Annual Reports for Corporate Strategy and Risk

The article provides information on the make-or-buy decisions involved in a buyer-seller relationship. Information is presented about contracting cost and market competition. A discussion is presen...

Supplier Competition, Uncertainty and Make or Buy Decisions

Procurement contracts are often renegotiated because of changes that are required after their execution Using highway paving contracts we show that renegotiation imposes significant adaptation costs Reduced form regressions suggest that bidders respond strategically to contractual incompleteness and that adaptation costs are an important determinant of their bids A structural empirical model compares adaptation costs to bidder markups and shows that adaptation costs account for 75–14 percent of the winning bid Markups from private information and market power, the focus of much of the auctions literature, are much smaller by comparison Implications for government procurement are discussed (JEL D44, D82, D86, H57, L13, L74, R42)

/pdf/bidding-for-incomplete-contracts-an-empirical-analysis-of-3gs9zg7xby.pdf

Gérard Roland

Papers

Markets and Hierarchies