Submitted by Sandra Ruiz (sm.ruiz60@gmail.com) on 2015-04-08T01:28:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação.pdf: 1127583 bytes, checksum: 2f98bee0f93fa58585ab309715262531 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2015-04-08T13:49:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação.pdf: 1127583 bytes, checksum: 2f98bee0f93fa58585ab309715262531 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-08T13:55:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação.pdf: 1127583 bytes, checksum: 2f98bee0f93fa58585ab309715262531 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-12 / Recent work has focused on analysing whether competitive advantages can be sustainable in a hypercompetitive context. Extant literature, which analysed emerging economies, found that the development of the institutional context contributes to creating hypercompetitive conditions. In this study was recognized the importance of these researches to the strategic management field but instead of focusing the attention on emerging countries, was considered necessary to take a broader spectrum as an object of study with countries that differ in their characteristics. This research also used a different methodology from the studies taken as a reference as the one made by Hermelo e Vassolo (2010) that focus its attention in developing countries, analysing the effect of institutions and hypercompetitive environments in the sustainability of competitive advantages. This research complemented those previous researches including data from firms in both, developing and developed countries to determine the difference in persistent superior economic performance over time between them, with the idea of showing how the environment is not only a key factor but also a main component in the development of competitive advantages. Using the Kolmogorov Smirnov test and the Propensity score matching to reduce bias, issues of sustainable competitive advantage and the effects of the institutional context in developed and developing countries was addressed, being careful with the comparison since their given differences might bring erroneous results. The empirical results support the proposition that there is a significant difference in superior economic performance and persistent superior economic performance sustainability between firms in countries with economic differences. Considering that this study focus on institutions and recognizing the importance they have in society and economic growth, studying them can help to determine how superior economic performance and persistent superior economic performance could be achieved with institution stability and favorable macroeconomic factors. An important contribution of this work is that it uses other theories related to the competitive advantages and connects the macroeconomic and institutional environment, with the purpose of comparing countries with different realities by statistical tests, giving answer to the formulated hypothesis. / Pesquisas recentes tem se concentrado em analisar se as vantagens competitivas podem ser sustentáveis em um contexto hipercompetitivo. Literatura existente que tem analisado economias emergentes descobriu que o desenvolvimento do contexto institucional contribui para a criação de condições hipercompetitivas. Reconhecendo a importância dessas pesquisas no campo da gestão estratégica, mas ao invés de concentrar a atenção em países emergentes, este trabalho considera crucial ter um espectro mais amplo como objeto de estudo com países que diferem em suas características. Nesta pesquisa foi usada uma metodologia diferente dos estudos que foram tomados como referência para o trabalho, como a feita por Hermelo e Vassolo (2010) que centraram a sua atenção nos países em desenvolvimento analisando o efeito das instituições e os ambientes hipercompetitivos na sustentabilidade das vantagens competitivas. As pesquisas anteriores foram complementadas incluindo dados de empresas em países em desenvolvimento e desenvolvidos, isto para determinar a diferença de desempenho econômico superior persistente ao longo do tempo entre eles com a ideia de mostrar como o meio ambiente não é apenas um fator-chave, mas também um componente principal no desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas. Usando o test Kolmogorov Smirnov e o Propensity Score Matching para reduzir viés, as questões de vantagem competitiva sustentável e os efeitos do contexto institucional foram analisados, tomando cuidado com a comparação uma vez que as suas diferenças podem trazer resultados incorretos. Os resultados empíricos sustentam a tese de que há uma diferença significativa no desempenho econômico superior e sua sustentabilidade entre as empresas em países com essas diferenças. Considerando-se que o foco de estudo está nas instituições e reconhecendo a importância que elas têm na sociedade e crescimento econômico, estudá-las pode nos ajudar a determinar como o desempenho economico superior e o desempenho economico superior persistente poderiam ser alcançados com a estabilidade das instituições e fatores macroeconômicos favoráveis. Uma contribuição importante deste trabalho é que ele usa outras teorias relacionadas com as vantagens competitivas e as relaciona com o entorno macroeconomico e institucional com o proposito de comparar países com realidades muito diferentes através de testes estatísticos que dão uma resposta à hipótese formulada.

Various academic disciplines have attempted to explain the factors underpinning superior economic performance. Generally they neglect the realities of small states. The literature fails to clearly define a small state . Mainstream theories associate smallness with sub-optimality . Small states studies tend to be conditioned by a vulnerability complex. Yet, a good number of small states have an economic track record which is the envy of much larger states. This thesis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the theoretical explanations of superior economic performance, at both the state and firm level. Resource-advantage theory, which claims to be a general theory of competition, offers valuable insights in understanding the superior economic performance of small states. The field research follows Porter (1998) in studying the performance of particular industries to understand the competitiveness of nations. A qualitative, case study approach, involving both primary and secondary investigation, explores the performance of the pharmaceutical industry in Malta following the country s decision to join the EU. This work perceives a small state as an organisation with well-defined, but permeable, boundaries. This open system is characterised by both a lack of market power and a small population. Through the secondary field research a small number of higher-order resources, competencies and dynamic capabilities (RCDCs) are identified. The field research s findings affirm the relevance of these arch-RCDCs in creating competitive advantage for the pharmaceutical industry in Malta. It also elucidates the key role played by an external catalyst, foreign direct investment, to circumvent domestic limitations. The study finds that it is still relevant to study small states and that achieving a strategic fit between the resource base and international market opportunities is essential if small states are to enhance their market power and achieve a superior economic performance.