The Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Catching-up of Nations: FDI, Clusters and the Liability (Asset) of Smallness

摘要

• We explore the role of foreign direct investment and (its relationship to) clusters for the competitiveness (and catching-up) of small(er) developing countries. • We suggest that while size per se need not matter, small(er) developing countries need to explicitly account for any liabilities of smallness when devising and implementing strategies for competitiveness and catching-up. • We claim that international strategic management scholarship can add insights on this important issue, by complementing extant literature and contributions by international trade and economic development scholarship.