Managerial Capabilities and Performance: An Empirical Examination of Causal Relationships

Using the managerial rents model (Castanias and Helfat, 2001) based on the resource and skills focus of the firm (RBV), it is proposed that managerial capabilities influence firm performance. This study differentiates between two levels of managerial skills: the first is based on levels of specificity while the second is based on the functional behavior of the management, and analyzes the direct and indirect influence of both levels of skills on three different performance measurements (profitability, growth and export profitability.) The empirical research, carried out on a sample of 445 businesses provides interesting results concerning the relationships between different categories of managerial skills and firm performance.