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The present study aims to provide new evidence regarding the factors that determine the survival of firms in the Spanish wine industry and to improve the understanding of sector dynamics.

The empirical analysis, conducted over a representative sample of wineries in the DOC Rioja wine industry, is based on non-parametric (Kaplan–Meier graph) and semi-parametric survival models (Cox proportional hazard model).

The empirical model finds that wineries with a higher number of networks with institutions enjoy better survival prospects. This study also shows that a winery’s previous performance affects the winery’s survival probability; therefore, successful wineries in the past encounter a smaller hazard of exit. Although spending on R&D and exporting are factors likely to improve wineries' efficiency and competitiveness, these factors did not contribute significantly to the survival of DOC Rioja wineries.

This paper makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the determinants of wineries' survival and has important policy implications. In order to raise the probability of survival, policy makers should promote the networks that link wineries and institutions. Moreover, this study is based on survival analysis which, although frequently used in medical and behavioural sciences, has rarely been applied to wine economics. Finally, it uses a unique data set obtained from primary data collection, which previous studies have not analysed in relation to the probability of winery survival.

This study aims to focus on relational social capital in family wineries. Relational social capital is influenced by the family nature of the business and is at the same time a key antecedent of winery performance. The aim is to analyse these relationships in the qualified denomination of origin (DOC) Rioja wine industry (Spain).

Using a final sample of 110 family wineries, a Baron and Kenny approach was performed to investigate the causal and mediating relationships between the generation in control, relational social capital and family winery performance.

Using a final sample of 110 family wineries, the study demonstrates that later generations show a higher level of relational social capital, that the positive relationship between relational social capital and performance is maintained in a family firm sample and that the generation in control sequentially influence on performance through its influence on relational social capital.

The main limitations are that empirical data were obtained only from DOC Rioja wine family businesses and a cross-sectional study was conducted.

This study provides policymakers and family managers responsible for succession with a better understanding of the effects of transferring the business to the next generations in terms of relational social capital and performance.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine the sequential relationships between generation, relational social capital and performance in DOC Rioja family wineries. The context of the DOC Rioja wine industry is particularly noteworthy for two reasons. First, in this industry, family-controlled firms predominate. Second, the DOC Rioja wine industry is focussed on the small-to-medium context, which has conventionally provided a very good area for the development of social capital theory.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the chosen specific internationalization pathway on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance.

This paper analyses the internationalization pathway among small- and medium-sized enterprises which internationalize through exporting and are more limited in terms of the resources they can leverage across markets.

Empirical evidence obtained from a sample of wineries in La Rioja shows that the internationalization – export performance relationship is characterized by a U-shaped curve for firms with a gradual internationalization pathway, and an S-shaped curve for firms with an accelerated internationalization pathway.

This empirical study on the impact of export intensity on performance has acknowledged the importance of costs caused by the liability of foreignness and the transaction and coordination costs involved in each market expansion process. However, it has not examined the effect of differences in absorptive and coordination capabilities at the firm level.

The findings about the role of the specific internationalization pathway in driving export intensity and performance appear to be relevant from a public-policy perspective. Local policies aimed at promoting exports have been widely based on the argument that firms can improve their performance through increasing their level of international sales. However, empirical evidence shows that these efforts may not work as well as was thought, unless combined with the right market expansion pathway and the optimal level of exports associated with this international market expansion.

Most studies on the effect of international market expansion on firm performance have not considered the influence of the specific market expansion pathway chosen. In taking this factor into account, this paper contributes to the existing body of work by developing an integrative theoretical framework that explores how the pathway of internationalization impacts on firms’ performance.

Most studies on the effect of international market expansion on firm performance have not considered the influence of the specific market expansion process chosen. In taking this factor into account, this paper contributes to the existing body of work by developing an integrative theoretical framework that explores how the process of international market expansion impacts on firms’ performance.

The aim of this research is to determine how trust might moderate the effect of asset specificity on the contractual choice.

The sample is drawn from the qualified appellation of origin (DOCa) Rioja wine market. A binomial logit was used as the primary technique for investigation of the hypothesis for the final sample size of 68 observations (34 oral contracts and 34 written contracts).

The evidence presented in this paper points to the fact that asset specificity, the most important characteristic in transaction cost economics, will not be a strong predictor of the level of contract formalisation for transactions that enjoy a high level of trust.

This study has important limitations that imply caution in generalising the findings. First, the agrarian legal framework is likely to alter the effectiveness of formal contracts as governance devices. Another limitation of this analysis is that it is not a dynamic analysis and, hence, it does not consider the possibility of trust emerging over time.

It is suggested that the possession of trust between contractual parties allows them to reduce transaction costs without resorting to a high level of contractual formalisation.

This paper is useful for practitioners and academics in the field of contractual choice. The research provides some initial insight into the moderating influence of trust on the relationship between asset specificity and level of contractual incompleteness in the viticulture sector.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the processes of orientation and empowerment and the transfer of information in the learning culture.

The first hypothesis predicts that information mediates the relationship between orientation and empowerment processes and learning culture and the second hypothesis suggests that organisational size moderates the relationships between constructs. The empirical work is conducted in the wine industry in Spain through a structural equation analysis, partial least squares.

The hypothesis of mediation is confirmed; however, the hypothesis about size moderation is not confirmed.

The importance of the transfer of information in the foundation of a learning culture is highlighted and, therefore, its importance in the development of learning in organisations, especially in building learning organisations.

This research contributes to the literature on learning in organisations by sharing not only the characteristics that identify a learning culture, but also the mechanisms or processes through which a learning culture can be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if shared brands provide sustainable competitive advantage according to an adapted valuable, rare, imitability/replaceability and organization (VRIO) model to the Brazilian wine sector in the opinion of the government agencies, associations and managers of the wineries.

This study was based on a qualitative and exploratory research, based on in-depth interviews. Fine wines that have geographical indications and are located in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul were analyzed and content analysis was used to explore data.

It was concluded that shared brands in the Brazilian wine sector can be considered a source of sustainable competitive advantage according to the resource-based view.

Qualitative research has the aspect of the subjectivity of the researcher when analyzing the data.

The government agencies, associations and wineries can improve the production process and seek certified products for commercialization in the domestic and foreign markets. These contributions may also, in practice, be used by other sectors and countries.

This work contributes to the understanding of the shared brand’s concept, including geographical indications, collective brands and the sector brands. The proposition that shared brands provide sustainable competitive advantage, according to an adapted VRIO model was confirmed. Barney’s VRIO framework (Barney, 1991, 1995) hitherto thought for individual companies, has the letter “O” of Organization replaced by the letter “A” of Association, becoming VRIA. The authors found that the four conditions that form the here proposed acronym VRIA are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable/replaceable and association.

This paper aims to investigate the internationalization strategies of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the interaction between network ties and “soft” internal resources at the foundation of knowledge management (KM). Specifically, it identifies the firms’ internal capabilities that affect KM strategies, and their collective influence on the degree of internationalization; verifies the influence of network ties on the internationalization process itself; and develops a conceptual “preliminary theoretical framework of SME internationalization capabilities and networks.”

The primary research and analysis are based on a proportional stratified sample of Sicilian wineries; while the conceptual and implicative developments of the paper rest on the combination of the theoretical with the primary findings of the research, and, it has been designed and tested through eight experts’ interviews/reviews.

Findings underline a strong influence of the internal capabilities of firms on the internationalization process. In addition, an important role in the export process emerges from the acquisition of information and knowledge through the establishment of networks.

The results need to be interpreted within the context for which this study was designed and cannot be applied generally to all businesses. However, results allow cellars’ managers to better understand the relationships among the influencing factors of SMEs internationalization.

The originality of the paper lies not only in its above-stated explicit theoretical objectives and findings but also in its comprehensive conceptual framework that theoretically incorporates the “strategic” with the “internal” and “networking” aspects; purposefully also arming the industry with a practicable tool toward managerial implementation.

Using the behavioural perspective as a theoretical complement of rational models, this paper examines factors that influence the decision of producing organic wines.

Based on a quantitative analysis of 687 wineries belonging to Denomination of Origin in Spain, the authors empirically examine the sequential relationships between manager's personality and winery and institutional level factors, on organic wine production activity and winery export performance.

This paper investigates the direct and indirect sequential relationships between wineries' factors including an organic production activity and two dimensions of export performance, namely: volume-based and value-based performance. The results of a sequential model provide evidence that openness to experience, a manager's personality trait, has a positive causal relationship with organic wine production.

This paper offers richer insights into the factors leading wine production managers to change from conventional to organic production methods. Specifically, the study shows that wine production managers are susceptible to make decisions to whether produce organic wine or not that may not be consistent with the current theoretical models based on economic efficiency (i.e. comparing costs and benefits). Instead, these decisions are, in part, based on their personality traits. Future research could study how the functional attribute affects the willingness to produce organic wines.

This study contributes to a new strategic implication of organic wine production activity and export performance linkage in behavioural and traditional theoretical perspectives. These findings are valuable for policy makers in the wine sector, as they can better inform and guide policies directed to identify organic production support programs.

This paper aims to present an in‐depth review on the latest state of empirical research in transaction cost economics (TCE), focusing on single‐industry studies. The intensely discussed subject of operationalization of transaction costs is critically assessed, and a concept of how to increase the quality of findings in empirical studies is presented.

The sample was obtained by a literature research and review in high‐class media and submitted to in‐depth quantitative and qualitative analysis such as content analysis.

The findings are in part unexpected and substantially contribute to research: applicability of TCE to a broad range of industries is found, the majority being large industries with important markets. Most studies support TCE statements, some suggesting theory extension by complementary aspects. Operationalization of transaction costs remains a field requiring further research.

First, this article is condensed and therefore limited to single‐industry studies within TCE, understanding “industry” as a specialized field of activity. The question of industry boundaries may be a base for future research. Second, the subject of operationalization of transaction costs still requires further research.

Decision makers can continue to use TCE for various applications such as strategic alliance, vertical integration, governance choice, make‐or‐buy or contract choice questions. A shortcoming in most articles reviewed is the presentation of the industry's characteristics. Authors need to consider them in order to increase the qualitative level of single‐industry studies.

This paper provides significant insight into the field of single‐industry TCE studies. As a result of penetrating research in high‐class media and in‐depth analysis, the paper provides highly structured and intensely examined statements on existing literature and related findings, which support TCE statements and will lead current disputes in the literature to a further stage.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether one can infer the identities of specific business and management coursework topics that owner/managers of wineries want to have addressed by a wine industry‐specific educational institution by assessing upstream and downstream vertical integration strategies of their respective wineries.

Exploratory empirical research involves the gathering of relevant information by way of telephone interviews and using closed end questions. The theory of the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm is the theoretical framework that was employed in developing relevant hypotheses.

The results demonstrate that one can predict the types of business and management courses that owner/managers of wineries want to have offered by assessing realized upstream and/or downstream vertical integration strategies of their respective wineries.

The research creates a bridge between research involving the RBV and the identification of needs of persons in various parts of the wine value chain. Such persons might either become involved in conceiving and/or rendering wine industry‐specific business and management instruction, or benefit by taking business coursework that has been established as relevant for them by this research.