'Dominance by birthright'? reconfiguration of firm boundaries to acquire new resources and capabilities

We examine pre-entry resources and capabilities (R&Cs) of de alio and de novo entrants in an emerging industry. Then, we investigate how entrants modify their firm boundaries, after entering a new industry, to acquire the R&Cs deemed critical to be competitive and survive in the industry. Our analysis uses the global biofuel industry as a case study. We use multiple sets of data, including primary data collected from semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders and experts across major biofuel-producing countries as well as quantitative data from industry reports. Firms typically deploy two successive strategies in order to survive and grow. First, they extend vertical boundaries to capitalise on their own pre-entry R&Cs. Then they move quickly to acquire new R&Cs, which are classified as critical in the value chain of the industry. A new taxonomy of pre-entry R&Cs is proposed i) to distinguish critical and non-critical forms of R&Cs, and ii) to reflect the ease of acquisition of any requisite R&Cs, which are context specific. These strategic moves lead to the bi-directional vertical integration observed in the biofuel industry. Managers need to be able to assess the opportunities for entry and subsequent strategies to be competitive by assessing their R&Cs in terms of criticality and ease of acquisition in their entry decision making. A new taxonomy of R&Cs of the firm is proposed which has theoretical significance and practical implications for new entrants

A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum

A robust understanding of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglacial history since the Last Glacial Maximum is important in order to constrain ice sheet and glacial-isostatic adjustment models, and to explore the forcing mechanisms responsible for ice sheet retreat. Such understanding can be derived from a broad range of geological and glaciological datasets and recent decades have seen an upsurge in such data gathering around the continent and Sub-Antarctic islands. Here, we report a new synthesis of those datasets, based on an accompanying series of reviews of the geological data, organised by sector. We present a series of timeslice maps for 20 ka, 15 ka, 10 ka and 5 ka, including grounding line position and ice sheet thickness changes, along with a clear assessment of levels of confidence. The reconstruction shows that the Antarctic Ice sheet did not everywhere reach the continental shelf edge at its maximum, that initial retreat was asynchronous, and that the spatial pattern of deglaciation was highly variable, particularly on the inner shelf. The deglacial reconstruction is consistent with a moderate overall excess ice volume and with a relatively small Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1a. We discuss key areas of uncertainty both around the continent and by time interval, and we highlight potential priorities for future work. The synthesis is intended to be a resource for the modelling and glacial geological community

Removing Distortions in the U.S. Ethanol Market: What Does It Imply for the United States and Brazil?

We analyze the impact of trade liberalization and removal of the federal tax credit in the United States on ethanol markets using a multimarket international ethanol model. We find that U.S. trade barriers have been effective in protecting the ethanol industry. Under current policy, there is separability of the U.S. ethanol market from world markets. With trade liberalization, the ethanol market deepens, making it less susceptible to price volatility. The effect of trade liberalization extends beyond ethanol markets, affecting agricultural markets. The results show that the impact of removal of the tax credit overrides the impact of the tariff removal. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

World sugar trade statistics 1988-1997 An F.O. Licht special study

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