Coopetition among competitors in global industries: drivers that lead to coopetitive agreements

Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on a growing strategic approach in global industries: the coopetition. Cooperation among competitors, namely, coopetition, is a strategic guideline in many global industries affected by technological innovation. This study discussed the effect of firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers leading to coopetitive agreements in global industries affected by technological innovation. Design/methodology/approach By using an event history analysis, the authors develop a framework on firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers on the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts. Empirical data are analyzed in five global industries: car industry, telecommunication industry, air transportation industry, bank industry and computer programming services industry. Findings The results of this study suggest that firms’ experience in cooperation (H1) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement. Moreover, the cultural similarity among competitors (H2) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement with a culturally similar competitor, while the total number of competitors already involved in coopetitive agreements (H3) has a low positive effect on the likelihood of a firm to coopete. Finally, the speed of agreements among competitors (H4) and the total number of coopetitive agreements in the industry (H5) (only in the car industry and software industry) are positively related to the chance of a firm entering into a coopetitive agreement. Research limitations/implications First, the authors identified and tested specific drivers of coopetition as a result of the literature review and data accessibility. The results may have omitted some variables able to further explain the event of coopetition. Second, the results of cultural distance versus cultural similarity revealed differences on firms’ behavior according to their different nationality. Chinese firms were the most oriented to deal coopetitive agreements with other Chinese firms, while firms from other countries were progressively less oriented by cultural similarity. These results may lead to studies of the “country of origin effect” on which partners to include in coopeititve agreements or which network of partners to join. Finally, the findings of this study are based on five industries over a specific ten years period of time. Consequently, the results certainly reflect the evolution of these industries over the time period considered. Practical implications The empirical investigation clarifies the relationship between decisions on strategy and competitive dynamics with the decision-making option to coopete. While managers take into account strategic moves against competitors, according to the authors’ investigation, it is valuable to consider coopetitive actions, especially when other competitors are involved in coopetitive agreements and the industry is affected by technological innovation. Moreover, the knowledge of drivers at the firm, inter-firm and industry level affecting coopetition is helpful to identify the weak or strong signals that show the rise and proliferation of coopetition in an industry. Social implications This study highlights the relevance of coopetition as an emerging approach in the competition among firms for developing or exploiting technological innovations. This approach can improve results in technological innovations that can have an impact in sustainability as well as new innovative solutions for social progress. Originality/value In literature, attention has been focused on drivers explaining the growing number of coopetitive agreements in several industries. Some contributions already discussed this topic from the perspective of costs and benefits for players. This study tries to continue to fill this research gap by studying, at firm, inter-firm and industry level, drivers of the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts.

EXPRESS: The Best Broths are Cooked in the Oldest Pans: An Empirical Test of the Practice-based View in the Wine Industry

The practice-based view (PBV) has recently been proposed as a counter to the resource-based view of the firm (RBV). Unlike the RBV, the PBV contends that performance differences among firms can accrue from readily available practices. Using a large sample of wines over a 20-year period, I find evidence of a significant relationship between the implementation of practices and performance. Findings also indicate that the strength of this relationship is contingent on the possession of valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (VRIN) resources (a firm-level moderator) and the prevalence of practices (an industry-level moderator). The impact of practices on performance is less pronounced when firms possess VRIN resources. It also declines as they become more widespread in an industry.

AGGREGATE MARKUP DYNAMICS: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

Unlike previous studies that focus on the change of firm-level markup, this study focuses on the change of industry-level aggregate markup. From the data of China’s manufacturing firms in 1999–2007, this study exploits the dynamic change of aggregate markup by using the decomposition method which is proposed by Melitz and Polanec (2015). The result shows that China’s manufacturing aggregate markup has an upward trend during the sample period, which mainly comes from the contribution of surviving firms. On the contrary, the contribution of entering and exiting firms to the aggregate markup is negative. Further analysis shows that trade liberalization is one of the reasons to promote the increase of China’s manufacturing aggregate markup. This study provides a new perspective for understanding the dynamic change of the aggregate markup.

Measuring subnational trade competitiveness

Much research has tried to measure the competitiveness of territorial units such as countries and subnational regions. We propose new measures of subnational trade competitiveness that reflect the economic focus of regions on their country’s comparative advantage. Our approach starts with data on the revealed comparative advantage of countries at the industry level. We then combine these measures with data on the employment structure of regions to arrive at measures of subnational trade competitiveness. In total, we offer data for 1,212 regions across 62 countries and over a time period of 21 years. In this paper, we introduce our measures and provide descriptive evidence that shows the plausibility of these measures. We also discuss some of the many research questions that these data can be used to address.

Exploring the antecedents of industry globalization: a longitudinal investigation

PurposeThere is considerable variation in the extent of globalization across industries. The authors attempt to identify the structural conditions of the industry that lead to these variations.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 33 manufacturing industries over the nine-year period from 2007 to 2016, the authors test for antecedents of industry globalization.FindingsThe authors find that industry globalization is positively affected by medium levels of barriers to entry, industry competition, industry assistance, low and mediums levels of capital intensity, industry concentration and industry regulation and negatively affected by low levels of technological change and industry assistance. In addition, the life cycle stage of the industry has an impact on the level of globalization with the growth stage having the highest level of globalization.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the major limitation of the paper is that the authors rely entirely on trade data to measure the level of industry globalization. The authors did not have a choice because foreign direct investment (FDI) data are available only at the country level. Second, given that globalization can occur at the country, industry and firm levels, the focus on industry-level structural characteristics alone may be seen as a limitation.Practical implicationsThe results of the study can provide guidance to practicing managers to apply industry analysis for predicting the potential for and direction of globalization of their industries. This will enable them to formulate appropriate strategies to cope with global competition.Social implicationsThe study has important public policy implications. National governments have many levers at their command that can be used to influence the structural characteristics of industries, such as industry regulation, industry assistance and industry concentration. They can selectively use these levers to either facilitate or impede globalization.Originality/valueMuch of the empirical focus of prior research on globalization has been on countries, rather than industries, as the unit of analysis. There is clearly variation in the extent of globalization across industries with some industries highly integrated while others remain primarily local or regional. Based on a novel approach to measure the extent of globalization at the industry level, the authors identify its antecedents. The value of the paper lies in the fact that the analysis of 33 manufacturing industries over a ten-year period shows that the structural characteristics of the industries drive their extent of globalization.

Substitution between production factors and intermediate inputs in the light of KLEMS growth accounting for Poland

The generally adopted view is that the gross-output-based MFP is the most correct in terms of methodology, and the value-added-based MFP is its imperfect substitute performed when some data are missing. In this paper, however, performing both of them and comparing their results is proposed as a valuable means to studying the development of outsourcing in the economy. The paper presents the elaboration of the methodology for the latter, which is its main contribution to the field. The case of the Polish economy is used as an applicative example (covering the period between 2005 and 2016), as KLEMS growth accounting has recently been implemented in Poland. The results demonstrate that around the year 2011, the expansion of outsourcing ceased. Since outsourcing was one of the main processes of the Polish transition, this observation can be considered as an indication of the maturing of the market economy in Poland. Moreover, KLEMS growth accounting makes it possible to study this issue through NACE activities, i.e. at the industry level. It shows that manufacturing (section C of NACE) is predominantly responsible for the situation described above, which is the main empirical finding of the study. The dominant role of manufacturing is also confirmed by some other sectoral observations of lesser importance. The methodology developed in this paper can potentially be applied to other countries for which both kinds of MFP are performed.