Epilogue Implications for National Policies

Suddenly, it seems, the sovereign states are feeling naked Raymond Vernon (Sovereignty AT BAY, 1971) 

Government policy does affect national advantage, both positively and negatively Michael E. Porter (Competitive Advantage of Nations, 1990) 

Lead market ability constitutes an international competitive advantage for a nation, because it strengthens domestic firms and facilitates exports. In contrast, an idiosyncratic market is a disadvantage for domestic firms, since preference is given to innovation designs that cannot be easily exported and even risk being squeezed out of the home market. Therefore, it is of vital interest to governments that the domestic market is a lead market and not an idiosyncratic or lag market. 

Section 7.2 of this chapter was prepared while I was a visiting researcher at the Multi-media University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. I am grateful to Dr. Avvari Mohan for gia-ciously hosting me. 

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