Why would some firms persist with continued operations when facing unfavorable economic conditions? Although prior studies have investigated the roles of uncertainty and sunk costs as sources of inertia, an unacknowledged type of sunk cost associated with temporary suspensions of operations is related to the erosion of existing capabilities. Building on the resource-based view and real options theory, we argue that resource idling contributes to capability erosion and that the anticipated capability loss motivates firms to refrain from idling their resources under demand uncertainty in the first place. The negative effects of uncertainty on resource idling are likely to be particularly strong for firms with superior capabilities and for those having a greater reliance on human capital. Using data on oil-drilling contractors in Texas, the empirical evidence lends support to our theoretical arguments. Our insights suggest that resource idling shapes the development path of capabilities and risks jeopardizing firms’ competitive advantages. The seemingly operational decision of temporarily idling resources can therefore be quite strategic for a firm, and hysteresis, or inertia in continuing operations, can preserve firms’ capabilities.

中文翻译：

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资源闲置和能力侵蚀

为什么一些企业在面对不利的经济条件时仍坚持继续经营？尽管先前的研究调查了不确定性和沉没成本作为惯性来源的作用，但与暂时停止运营相关的未被承认的沉没成本类型与现有能力的侵蚀有关。在基于资源的观点和实物期权理论的基础上，我们认为资源闲置会导致能力侵蚀，而预期的能力损失会促使企业在需求不确定的情况下首先避免闲置资源。不确定性对资源闲置的负面影响对于能力出众的公司和更加依赖人力资本的公司来说可能特别强烈。使用德克萨斯州石油钻探承包商的数据，经验证据支持我们的理论论点。我们的见解表明，资源闲置会影响能力的发展路径，并可能危及企业的竞争优势。因此，暂时闲置资源的看似可操作的决策对于公司来说可能是非常具有战略意义的，而滞后或持续运营的惯性可以保持公司的能力。