Does one size fit all? A dual double diamond approach to country-specific advantages

Abstract

In this era of globalization, an accurate analysis of country-specific advantages (CSAs) is imperative for multinational corporations (MNCs) to thrive in global competition. Integrating previous extensions of Porter's diamond model, this paper introduces the ‘dual double diamond’ (DDD) model as a new approach to analyze CSAs of countries with various characteristics, and empirically tests the explanatory power of each model. The results show that the generalized double diamond (GDD) and nine-factor (NF) models have better explanatory power than Porter's diamond when assessing CSAs of countries with high international connectivity and high human-factor dependency, respectively, and that the DDD model is more comprehensive than the GDD and NF models in explaining CSAs of countries with heterogeneous attributes. This paper also discusses the implications of the DDD model for MNCs investing, or planning to invest, in Asian countries.