VOLUME XV
|
SPRING 2007
|
STRATEGIC HETEROGENEITY AND INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE IN SPANISH MANUFACTURING
|
EDUARDO GONZÁLEZ FIDALGO
JUAN VENTURA VICTORIA Universidad de Oviedo |
This paper analyses the relationship between strategic variety and industry performance. From a theoretical perspective, strategic variety may induce a positive effect, by reducing competitive interdependence, or a negative effect, by impairing oligopolistic coordination. The empirical evidence in the literature is scant and contradictory. With these precedents in mind, this paper provides new evidence from a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms representing 55 different industries. The results support the existence of a quadratic U-shaped relationship, suggesting that both industries with high variety and industries with low variety tend to achieve high performance. Conversely, industries that show a moderate level of strategic variety register a lower performance.
|
Key words: strategic variety, performance, strategic groups, industry.
JEL classification: L10, L60, C23. |
TO DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER
|