The Competitive Advantage Of Nations

In Part 3 of the book, Porter outlines two main objectives. The first is “to explain the patterns of international success and failure in a number of important national economies” (282). The related second objective is to explain why the industries in certain nations have been able to upgrade and have not in others. The ability to upgrade in advanced industries is the key to competitive advantage and national economic success. By addressing both issues, Porter looks to give a broader account of national competitive advantage over time and the forces underpinning it. In this chapter, he focuses on the four nations that were “early winners” after World War II.

The first, and most obvious, of these nations is the US. The US was already a pre-eminent industrial power before World War II but in the decades that followed gained unrivalled international leadership in a staggering range of industries—including semiconductors and computers, automobiles and aircraft, chemicals and plastics, consumer goods, and entertainment and leisure products—for a variety of reasons. The US enjoyed plentiful natural resources of land and minerals as well as a strong industrial base. However, the war gave it a unique advantage by crippling its rivals in Europe and Japan.