Resources, competitiveness, and socioeconomic development: The case of a South American emerging economy

Abstract

This study contributes to the regional development and entrepreneurship literature, examining the significance of resources in the context of Uruguay’s main industries for the nation’s socioeconomic development through the lens of the resource-based theory of the firm. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 47 key informants representing public and private entities. Alignments between the findings and the resource-based theory of the firm emerged, in that strategies implemented to improve the competitiveness of main Uruguayan industries were based on valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable resources. However, decisive external factors triggering demand, investments, and modernisation are equally significant in generating competitive advantage. A refinement of the resource-based theory of the firm based on the study’s results is proposed; implications are discussed; and future research opportunities suggested.