Even if the estimated financial value of the stolen IT resources may be discounted by claims of bias, the BSA study also estimated that the software piracy rate in emerging market economies was 68 percent, meaning that two-thirds of American companies' competitors from these countries are operating their businesses free of the IT costs incurred by American businesses. Given the fundamental nature of most IT resources in day-to-day business operations, this is like trying to compete when two-thirds of your competitors do not have to pay for basic costs of doing business, like rent or utilities. Furthermore, when taking into account the other cost advantages of emerging market companies, such as significantly lower labor costs, it is easy to understand how foreign companies can save even more money by misappropriating IT resources, further extending pricing power over American competitors.