This paper examines a nearly untested premise of the resource‐based view of the firm: managers can exploit uncertainty about a factor's true value to generate returns. Our results show that empirically validating this basic proposition is difficult and potentially impossible, despite our use...

Exchanges are governed by a set of formal institutions (contracts, incentives, authority) and informal institutions (norms, routines, political processes) which are deeply intertwined. However, for the most part, informal institutions are treated as exogenous forces which change the benefits to...