Resource Based View Industries?

RBV not for Industry Level
Warren Miller, CFA, CPA, Member
The RBV cannot be applied to an industry. It is not designed for use in the context of that unit of analysis. Instead, the RBV is applied on an entity-specific basis. That reflects the heterogeneity that is the essence of head-to-head competitors, but it's that very heterogeneity that makes it impossible to apply to an industry.

Industries with Many RBV-based Firms
Jaap de Jonge, Editor
Agree with you Warren. Though I believe Zahir Vohra is actually not suggesting that we can or should conduct an RBV analysis at industry level. Rather Zahir is wondering if there are industries that (on average) have more participating firms relying on VRIN thinking.

RBV in Automotive Industry
Maryam Bidmeshgipour, Member
As a part of my thesis I have been investigating the practice of RBV in the automotive industry in middle eastern countries and I have found that this industry is benefiting from practicing RBV.

What Industy Can Be.........
Mohan Fonseka, Member
@Maryam. You have to apply RBV for one firm only, that could be in the automotive industry. RBV can not apply to an entire industry.
You can use only one industry and you can obtain more homogenize sample, grouping firms into industry segments.
Competitve advantage can be measured by industry adjusted profitability. You can use industry segment type as a contol variable. But in my opinion RBV can not use more than one industry.