Based on data from the European meat processing industry three sets of competitive sources on business performance are studied: Firm Specific Advantages (FSAs), Localizational Specific Advantages (LSAs) and Relation Specific Advantages (RSAs). The results indicate that the FSAs and the RSAs are the most important explanatory variables on business performance, however, with strong interaction effects between the two sets of variables. Given the findings, we call for further empirical validation of how the different sets of competitive advantages interact and reinforce each. A closer examination of the nature of the RSAs, ie resource accumulation and development through inter-firm co-operation is also needed.

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The purpose of this article is to build a coherent framework of the four main theories relating to the internationalization of firms, in order to facilitate better business teaching and research. Yet, theories of the internationalization of firms are broad and rest on different underlying assumptions. With the purpose of clarifying the potential for integration of partial theories and fragments in a more logically connected theoretical area, this article offers a meta-theoretical overview of four perspectives within international business economics: Research and its related background, basic assumptions, study area, and implications of the theories in the internationalization of the firm.

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