A tumultuous decade in Thailand: competitive dynamics among domestic banks and multi-national entrants in an emerging market

This research is a longitudinal exploratory studying the influence that multinational company (MNC) entry may have on domestic firm entry rates in an emerging market. Although research on competitive exclusion suggests that MNC entrants present entry barriers to potential smaller domestic entrants, we offer an alternative scenario. That is, MNCs and domestic organisations can co-exist as separate strategic groups within an industry. In particular, when small, potential domestic firms have access to idiosyncratic resources that are less available to MNCs, these smaller entrants were successful in overcoming strong MNC entry barriers. Still, this is circumscribed by the height of entry barriers, but not to the extent alluded to in previous industry organisation analysis research. The results indicate less predictable competitive dynamics than previous research would suggest, especially in the context of emerging markets. There is also some indication that domestic banks are more responsive to institutional factors within the home country than MNCs.