Heterogeneity Within an Industry: Firm Conduct in the U.S. Brewing Industry, 1952-71

Abstract

Our interest in this paper is in exploring the conduct of firms within a single industry. We chose the U.S. brewing industry over the period 1952-7 I for a number of reasons. One was because during this period the industry experienced major structural changes as a number of publicly held brewing companies increased their market share. Another is because during this period excise taxes and grain prices were relatively stable, reducing the number of variables to be considered. A third is because during the I952-7I period few brewers were diversified to any major extent, a situation which provided an opportunity for us to focus on how firms competed within a 'single' business. Between I952 and I97I, the brewing industry underwent a major transition. In this period the number of breweries declined from 357 to I48 and the market share of the four largest brewers increased from 24-2 % to 48'5%. During this same period, however, the fortunes of many companies, both large and small, shifted dramatically. Schlitz lost its position as market leader to Anheuser-Busch whose market share increased from 7. I % to Ig92 %. Once prominent large firms like Ballentine and Blatz disappeared while firms like Carling, Hamm, Falstaff and Associated Breweries enjoyed a short period of vigorous prosperity and then began to wane. Companies like Coors, and more recently Miller, began to grow. The interesting question is 'why did these different firms experience different degrees of success?' A simple structuralist view would encourage an hypothesis that the changing market structure of the industry affected each firm, favoring the large at the expense of the small. Yet, this hypothesis