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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Maintaining Corporate Dominance after Decolonization: The 'First Mover Advantage' of Shell-BP in Nigeria
Authors:Frynas, Jędrzej GeorgeISNI
Beck, Matthias P.
Mellahi, KamelISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:27
Issue:85
Period:September
Pages:407-425
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:multinational enterprises
petroleum
international relations
Economics and Trade
External links:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240008704475
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=46FA9FE40EA710390EFB
Abstract:Nigeria's oil industry came into being during colonial rule. Preferential treatment by British colonial authorities gave a British oil company - Shell - a virtual monopoly over oil exploration in the country and Shell has remained the dominant oil company in Nigeria. This article considers why Shell was able to maintain a position of dominance in Nigeria. It examines Nigeria's diversification and nationalization policies from the late 1950s to date with the view of identifying the factors which allowed Shell to maintain its position vis-ŕ-vis potential competitors. The investigation is based on the analysis of secondary sources as well as documents from the Public Record Office (PRO) in London and the BP Archive. In order to explain Shell's dominance in Nigeria, the article utilizes the concept of a 'first mover advantage'. On the most basic level, this concept suggests that pioneering firms are able to obtain positive economic profits as the consequence of early market entry. The article concludes that a micro-theoretical analysis based on the idea of a 'first mover advantage', which explores the position of individual entities within a political economy framework, provides a superior explanation of Shell's dominance in Nigeria as compared to conventional macro-theoretical structuralist approaches. Bibliogr., notes, sum.
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