The Marketing of Wisdom: Resource-Advantage Theory

Abstract

In A General Theory of Competition: Resources, Competences, Productivity, Economic Growth , Shelby D. Hunt has made an important contribution to our understanding of the competitive process. Hunt rightly emphasizes that the equilibrium-based analysis of much of mainstream economics actually obliterates both the heterogeneity and dynamism that marks real-world industrial competition. Building on a wide variety of intellectual traditions in economics, Hunt lays the foundations of what he calls resource-advantage theory. It is argued here, however, that it is not yet a complete theory. It is over-general in its scope and fails to distinguish between different types of resources. Furthermore, some of the tests of the theory are not sufficiently convincing. Nevertheless, the work remains an important and worthwhile contribution.