%0 Journal Article %T Resources, competitiveness, and socioeconomic development: The case of a South American emerging economy %A Abel D Alonso %J Local Economy %@ 1470-9325 %D 2019 %R 10.1177/0269094219829717 %X This study contributes to the regional development and entrepreneurship literature, examining the significance of resources in the context of Uruguay¡¯s main industries for the nation¡¯s socioeconomic development through the lens of the resource-based theory of the firm. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 47 key informants representing public and private entities. Alignments between the findings and the resource-based theory of the firm emerged, in that strategies implemented to improve the competitiveness of main Uruguayan industries were based on valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable resources. However, decisive external factors triggering demand, investments, and modernisation are equally significant in generating competitive advantage. A refinement of the resource-based theory of the firm based on the study¡¯s results is proposed; implications are discussed; and future research opportunities suggested %K competitive advantage %K industries %K industry stakeholders %K internationalisation %K resource-based theory of the firm %K socioeconomic development %K Uruguay %U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269094219829717