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dc.contributor.authorHERRMANN, Andrea
dc.date.accessioned2009-02-19T14:51:56Z
dc.date.available2009-02-19T14:51:56Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.identifier.citationOxford : Oxford University Press, 2008en
dc.identifier.isbn9780199543434
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/10668
dc.description.abstractThis book examines how firms adapt to the pressures of increasing international competition by testing both the arguments on ‘strategy specialization’ proposed in the competitiveness literature in general, and those offered by contributors to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ debate in particular. If different economies are characterized by distinct institutional arrangements — successful firms would be the ones that exploit their comparative advantages and specialize in the competitive strategies facilitated by national institutions. The book begins with an assessment of how many pharmaceutical firms in Germany, Italy, and the UK pursue strategies facilitated by national institutions governing financial markets, antitrust activities, and the labour market. Quantitative analyses reveal that deviant firms, competing through institutionally unsupported strategies, outnumber conforming firms by far. Not only does this finding run counter to the expectations of the competitiveness literature, it brings up a whole new line of inquiry. How can firms compete through strategies that are not supported by national institutions? To address this question, the book combines quantitative analyses with qualitative insights, showing that firms do not necessarily exploit comparative institutional advantages, but that they can successfully circumvent institutional constraints. International markets and individual collaboration on a contractual basis allow firms to compete despite comparative institutional disadvantages. These findings suggest that trade liberalization tends to foster strategy diversification rather than strategy specialization, depending on the inventiveness of entrepreneurs in developing individual approaches toward competing.
dc.description.tableofcontents-- PART I Specialization in Line with Comparative Institutional Advantages? -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Patterns of Strategy Specialization -- PART II Linking Institutions, Input Factors, and Competitive Strategies -- 3. Linking Financial Market Institutions, Corporate Finance, and Competitive Strategies -- 4. Linking Antitrust Legislation, Standards, and Competitive Strategies -- 5. Linking Labour‐Market Institutions, Employee Skills, and Competitive Strategies -- PART III Strategy Choice, Success, and Sustainability in Perspective -- 6. Excursus: Success and Choice of Competitive Strategies -- 7. Conclusion
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen
dc.relation.isversionofhttp://hdl.handle.net/1814/6578en
dc.titleOne political economy, one competitive strategy? : comparing pharmaceutical firms in Germany, Italy, and the UKen
dc.typeBooken
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199543434.001.0001
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
dc.description.versionPublished version of EUI PhD thesis, 2006en


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