Premium
Political risks as firm‐specific (dis)advantages: Evidence on transnational oil firms in Nigeria
Author(s) -
Frynas Jedrzej George,
Mellahi Kamel
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
thunderbird international business review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.553
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1520-6874
pISSN - 1096-4762
DOI - 10.1002/tie.10090
Subject(s) - political risk , politics , guard (computer science) , premise , business risks , business , petroleum industry , industrial organization , economics , market economy , political science , law , risk analysis (engineering) , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , biology , programming language
The international business literature has recognized that political risk can be firm‐specific, but it has so far focused almost exclusivelyon the national business environment rather than the firm itself. Scholars have still largely confined firms to the role of relatively passivebystanders who, at best, can forecast political risks with some precision or guard against risk (e.g., through insurance). The basicpremise of this article, however, is that transnational corporations (TNCs) can be active actors capable of acquiring and upgradingfirm‐specific resources and capabilities for coping with or even benefiting from political risk. The research is based on the case of theNigerian oil industry. The research provides evidence to suggest that the same political events can have varying effects on different transnationalfirms depending on their strategic resources and capabilities, and can benefit specific firms under certain circumstances. © 2003 WileyPeriodicals, Inc.