VISUALIZING INTERFIRM COMPARISON

In this paper, we present a new way to visualize the results obtained with interfirm comparison. It will be shown how these results can be v isualized even if the explanatory variable is explained by more than o ne firm characteristic. As a result, the new visualization method enab les us to see at a single glance: which firm has the highest explanato ry variable, what the expected value of the explanatory variable is gi ven the firm's characteristics, what the corresponding values of its c ompetitors are, and to what extent the different firm characteristics contribute to the firm's expected value of the explanatory variable. T he method is illustrated by a numerical example concerning Dutch retai l industries.