Export performance in Spanish wineries: the role of human capital and quality management system

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to research the effect of human capital and Quality Management System (QMS) on the export performance of wine firms. The empirical analysis is carried out using data from a sample of Spanish wineries and performing Tobit regression models. In relation to human capital, the results show that only the specific human capital is associated with superior export performance of wineries whereas the general human capital, although it has a positive coefficient, is not statistically significant on the export performance of wine firms. The results related to QMS show that those wine firms certified with the ISO 9000 standard of QMS have better export performance.