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This paper applies and empirically tests a real options approach to conceptualizing the value of patents. Based on a theorem derived by Merton (1973), we propose that greater dispersion in the citations of a firm's patents represents greater flexibility for the firm to exercise the option rights embedded in the patents and thus enhances the option value of the patents. A test of this proposition using a sample of 128 US-based biotechnology firms found corroborative results.

While these three studies investigated different aspects of MNE operations in China, they all seem to converge on one important research topic: the multifaceted role of learning in the choice of a firm's international expansion strategy (e.g., timing of entry into the Chinese market) or the choice of an organizational form as the vehicle for expansion (e.g., mode and extent of managerial control). The results show that learning occurs not only between foreign and local Chinese partners but also between existing and potential entrants from the same or culturally similar countries. In addition, they also suggest that learning affects not only the initial entry decision and mode choice but also the evolution of the relationship between the MNE entrant and its local partner over time. Furthermore, the study by Wang and Nicholas demonstrates that a MNE entrant into the highly dynamic Chinese market can expect to acquire new information about the country's evolving institutional environment and may find it advantageous to modify its strategic or organizational choices as the country's institutional reform progresses.

We argue that resource-based view (RBV) researchers must take into account three interdependencies, (i) intrafirm resource complementarity, (ii) interfirm resource complementarity or rivalry, and (iii) compatibility or incompatibility of firm resources to broader socio-economic institutions, when attempting to empirically verify the RBV. However, these interdependencies lead to three potential causes of statistical bias, which can reduce the interpretability of such empirical examinations. First, omitted variable bias results from a researcher's inability to find and include in empirical analyses appropriate operationalizations of constructs. Second, selection bias can arise when a researcher samples only from one subset of the population, and not others. Bias in estimates can occur if a correlation between unobserved determinants of the outcome and factors affecting the selection process exist. Finally, joint dependence, where two explanatory variables are themselves mutual determinants, can lead to biased estimation.

Previous studies on international competitive strategies identify a number of loosely defined strategy types and suggest that the choice among them is based on their relative productive efficiency (i.e. ability to exploit such factors as economies of scale, economies of scope, and location economies). Our analysis highlights the additional role of motivational efficiency. We propose that the proportion of available productive efficiency that is actually realized under each strategy depends on the motivational efficiency of the best possible incentive system for implementing the strategy. Our conceptual framework allows the identification of precise theoretical relationships for empirical measurement and testing.