Economic measures of competitive advantage
9 important questions on Economic measures of competitive advantage
What are the advantages and disadvantages of account measures of competitive advantage?
- Easy to compute
- Firms publicly share accounting statements
- Cost of capital often excluded
- Incomplete performance view
How is cost of capital defined in a firm?
- Represents the rate of return promised to capital suppliers.
- Induces them to invest in the firm.
What are the two primary sources of capital?
- From banks and bondholders
- - Cost is the interest to debt holders
- From stock purchasers
- - Cost is the promised return to equity holders
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How is the cost of debt characterized?
- It equals the interest required by debt holders.
- Required to convince them to lend money to the firm.
What does cost of equity represent?
- It denotes the return rate promised to equity holders.
- Required to attract individuals and institutions to invest.
What is WACC and what does it indicate about a firm's capital?
- Equity × Cost of equity
- WACC < ROA < Industry Avg. ROA
- Can indicate competitive advantage or disadvantage
What are the types of economic performance based on a firm's cost of capital?
- ABOVE NORMAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE - earns more than cost of capital, likely has competitive advantage
- NORMAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE - earns exactly the cost of capital, achieves competitive parity
- BELOW NORMAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE - earns less, leading to competitive disadvantage
What are the advantages and disadvantages of measuring a firm’s performance relative to its cost of capital?
- Satisfying stakeholders (debt and equity holders)
Disadvantages include:
- Difficulty in calculating cost of capital, especially for privately held firms
- May need to use accounting ratios
How does the performance of a firm relate to its stakeholders?
- If a firm earns its cost of capital, it satisfies both debt holders and equity holders
- A firm's ability to attract additional capital depends on its performance relative to cost of capital
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