Competing with Multinationals: Strategies of the Portuguese Alcohol Industry

This study looks at the formation of multinationals and relates that process to the emergence of institutions favorable to economic growth. It compares the development of such institutions from 1960 in four European countries: the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The focus of the study is a global industry—alcoholic beverages—in which brands, marketing knowledge, and distribution channels have been critical. In order to understand why some nations succeed in developing multinationals and others do not, different views of the determinants of national wealth, such as trade, institutions and organizations, and corporate governance, are examined. Whereas three of the countries developed leading multinationals in alcoholic beverages, Portugal did not succeed in doing so. The study concludes that, in marketingbased industries, both the type of product and the institutional environment influence the ability of firms to become leading multinationals.