Cwl. Hill et Dl. Deeds, THE IMPORTANCE OF INDUSTRY STRUCTURE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FIRM PROFITABILITY - A NEO-AUSTRIAN PERSPECTIVE, Journal of management studies, 33(4), 1996, pp. 429-451
This paper is concerned with exploring the degree to which industry st
ructure determines firm performance. Most of the business policy liter
ature follows Porter in arguing that industry structure has an importa
nt influence on firm level profit rates. The arguments contained in th
is paper take a counter position. It is argued that a plausible altern
ative to the hypothesis that industry structure matters is the hypothe
sis that (holding demand constant) individual firm differences are the
most important determinant of firm profitability.