Final answer:
First-mover advantages are benefits accruing to firms that take early strategic and technological decisions in an industry's development, potentially gaining access to resources, building brand recognition, and setting standards for others to follow. This is distinct from a comparative advantage which relates to the production efficiency of countries or firms in specific goods or services.
Step-by-step explanation:
The advantages that come to firms that make important strategic and technological decisions early in the development of an industry are known as First-mover advantages. Firms with first-mover advantages may gain access to crucial resources, build better brand recognition, and set industry standards that later entrants must follow. This is different from comparative advantage, which refers to the ability of a country or firm to produce a particular good or service at a lower opportunity cost compared to its competitors, often influenced by factors such as workforce education, specialized knowledge, economies of scale, and parts of a value chain.
Conversely, the advantages of backwardness suggest that regions or countries that are late to industrialize can experience faster growth by adopting new technologies from the leaders. However, this is separate from the concept of first-mover advantages which pertains specifically to firms and their early strategic decisions in the marketplace.