Domestic Competition and Export Performance in the Beer Industry: Evidence from the EU

Miriam Brellíková
Statistika, 106(2): 180–195
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2025.34

Abstract
This paper investigates how domestic market competition influences beer export performance in the European Union between 2014 and 2023. Employing a gravity model framework and Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood estimation, it incorporates standard trade variables alongside two measures of domestic competition: the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the ratio of microbreweries to total breweries. The empirical results, based on 1 277 observations, indicate that lower market concentration and a higher share of microbreweries are significantly associated with greater export volumes. Conceptually, the paper extends heterogeneous-firm trade to a mature, differentiated consumer industry and identifies both an efficiency/selection channel and a non-price differentiation channel. Empirically, it offers new sector-level, multi-country evidence that links domestic market dynamism and firm diversity to external competitiveness, and informs policies on competition and SME support.

Keywords
Competition, export performance, international trade, beer industry, microbrewery