External competitiveness of Spanish canned fruit and vegetable businesses during the second half of the twentieth century

The Spanish canned fruit and vegetable industry has had a strong export orientation since its beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century. A growing foreign demand, the constraints of the domestic market and the need to find outlets for large quantities of fruit and vegetables resulting from the modernisation of farming were behind this intense move towards an international focus. In this paper we seek to show what constituted the bases of the competitive advantage of the Spanish canning industry. Three main conclusions can be drawn from applying the theory of industrial clusters: the absolute advantage of costs (in salaries and in raw materials) obtained from the geographical concentration of the sector, which allowed businesses to offer highly competitive prices; knowledge sharing throughout the history of the industry; and the importance of state help

Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Business · Competitive advantage · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Geography · Modernization theory · State (computer science · Family Business Performance and Succession · Marketing · Wine Industry and Tourism

• Diversificación de cultivos y nuevas oportunidades de negocio en las regiones mediterráneas

  Open Access•Antònia Morey Tous, Andreu Seguí Beltrán•Historia Agraria Revista de…•2026

  Incluir item

• Globalization and the Development of Industrial Clusters

  Open Access•Rolv Petter Amdam, Ove Bjarnar•The Business History Review•2015

  Incluir item

• Strategy and Structure

  Alfred D Chandler•Strategy and Structure•2013

  Incluir item

• The Competitive Advantage of Nations

  Open Access•Michael E Porter•The Competitive Advantage of…•1990

  Incluir item

• The Mechanism of Internationalisation

  Open Access•Jan Johanson, Jan‐Erik Vahlne•International Marketing Review•1990

  Incluir item

• International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle

  Raymond Vernon•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1966

  Incluir item

• Sector exterior y crecimiento en la España autárquica

  Open Access•Elena Martínez Ruiz•Revista de Historia Económica /…•2001

  Incluir item

• Formacion y desarrollo de la industria de conservas vegetales en España, 1850–1935

  Open Access•José‐miguel Martínez‐carrión, José Miguel Martinez Carrión•Revista de Historia Económica /…•1989

  Incluir item

• The Fruit Workers of the Santa Clara Valley

  Glenna Matthews•Pacific Historical Review•1985

  Incluir item

• The Decline of the Piece-Rate System in California Canning

  Open Access•Martin Brown, Peter Philips•The Business History Review•1986

  Incluir item

• The Decline of Child Labor in the U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Canning Industry

  Open Access•Martin Brown, Jens Christiansen et al.•The Business History Review•1992

  Incluir item

• Craft Labor and Mechanization in Nineteenth-Century American Canning

  Open Access•Martin Brown, Peter Philips•The Journal of Economic History•1986

  Incluir item

• Red Gold of the Ozarks

  Tom Dicke•Agricultural History•2005

  Incluir item

• Canning in Northwestern Arkansas

  Irene A Moke•Economic Geography•1952

  Incluir item

• The Evolution of Labor Market Structure

  Open Access•Martin Brown, Martin M Brown et al.•Industrial and Labor Relations…•1985

  Incluir item

• Gender, Race, and Political Empowerment

  Open Access•Iris Berger•Gender & Society•1990

  Incluir item