Resources, mobility barriers, and the international competitive position of an industry Claudio Carpano a, * , Manzur Rahman b,1 , Kendall Roth c,2 a Department of Management, The Belk College of Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA b School of Business Administration, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92110, USA c Department of International Business, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA Abstract Studies on international competition have tended to focus on macro-level differences in factor endowments or firms’ strategic motives. We propose a simple framework for analyzing the dynamics of international competition in a previously domestic industry. Using the resource-based theory of the firm, the domestic industry is treated as a distinct strategic group vis-a `-vis foreign firms. The nature of inward international competition can then be characterized as a function of foreign firms’ resources versus the resources used by domestic firms as international mobility barriers (IMBs). Domestic firms’ response to international competition can also be viewed as a resource readjustment process. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Resources; Mobility barriers; International competitive position 1. Introduction The international competitive position of an industry is determined in a dynamic environment, continually changing with shifts in competitive advantages across nations 1075-4253/03/$ – see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S1075-4253(03)00008-5 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-704-687-2167; fax: +1-704-687-3123. E-mail addresses: ccarpano@email.uncc.edu (C. Carpano), rahman@SanDiego.edu (M. Rahman), kroth@moore.sc.edu (K. Roth). 1 Tel.: + 1-619-260-2388; fax: + 1-619-260-4891. 2 Tel.: + 1-803-777-3604. Journal of International Management 9 (2003) 153–169