From Comparative Advantages to Competitive Advantages: Biofuel Strategies for Sustainable Development

National comparative advantages and latecomer advantages have been much discussed within the economic and international trade and management literature respectively. This paper adapts these two concepts and presents an integrated strategy for sustainable development in emerging economies.It proposes a policy framework on strategies that late industrializing countries can pursue, resulting from identifying country-specific comparative advantages. This paper analyses current biofuels policies and further builds a framework to develop appropriate strategies to bind the economic opportunities from the biofuels sector to aid rural development. It also draws on the lessons learned from the Brazilian and Argentinian biofuel industries.