The processes of structural change and modernization in the food distribution industry have been submitted to different economic and institutional frameworks in European countries. Three essential factors have affected structural change in Spain: 1) the role of technical and organizational innovations, 2) institutional factors such as regulation and market structures, and 3) foreign direct investments. This article discusses with the framework of the “latecomers.” In these countries, the factor of innovation has been produced in terms of appropriation, whether this is technological or organizational, usually influenced by foreign models or through direct foreign investment. The impact of these innovations has been highly conditioned by inflexible institutional surroundings. Considering the Spanish food trade in the last sixty years is a good way understanding processes of structural change in Mediterranean Europe. This research helps one understand the role taken by countries, which introduced factors of innovation and growth in less favourable surroundings than those of developed Europe.
Archives of the Cámara de Comercio de Madrid (ACCM) [Madrid Chamber of Commerce] (1953-1960), “Comisión Nacional de Productividad Industrial (CNPI)” [“Annual Report of the Spanish Productivity Council”].
2.
Archives of the French Chamber of Commerce of Madrid (AFCCM) (1973-1976), “Monthly Bulletins Various Editions.”
3.
Comisión Nacional de Productividad Industrial (CNPI) (1959a), La distribución de alimentos en España [The food distribution in Spain]. Madrid: CNPI.
4.
Comisión Nacional de Productividad Industrial (CNPI) (1959b), Memoria presentada a la Comisión Nacional de Productividad Industrial por el equipo de Dirección de Personal [Report from the team of Ministry of Industry-Directorate for Personnel and Administration about technical US trips]. Madrid: Ministerio de Industria.
5.
Fondo Banco Urquijo (FBU) [Urquijo Bank Archive]
6.
- ARPS. Annual Report of PRYCA Supermarkets, 1964-1967
7.
- SAR. SIMAGO Annual Report, 1963-1974
8.
French embassy in Madrid (FEM) Report by the French embassy in Madrid. La Documentation Française, Dossier Espagne- Grande Distribution [Analysis of Spanish distribution in 1985] (ES/L/0049)
9.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) (1960-1975), Contabilidad Nacional Española (base 1970) [Spanish National Accounting]
10.
IRESCO (1977), Las Cadenas Voluntarias [Voluntary Chains in Spain], Madrid: Ministerio de Comercio, Subsecretaría de Mercado Interior.
11.
IRESCO (1978), Informe General sobre el Comercio en España [General Report about Domestic Trade in Spain]. Madrid: Ministerio de Comercio y Turismo, Subsecretaría de Mercado Interior.
12.
IRESCO (1984), Informe sobre el comercio asociado en España [Report about the associate trade in Spain]. Madrid, Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, Secretaría de Estado de Comercio.
13.
MC (1971), Guía Nacional de autoservicios de alimentación [National Guide of food self-services outlets]. Valladolid: Ministerio de Comercio, CAT-Dirección Técnica de Consumo.
14.
MC (1974), Guía Nacional de autoservicios de alimentación [National Guide of food self-services outlets]. Madrid: Ministerio de Comercio, Dirección Gral. de Comercio Alimentario.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1973), Libre Service Actualítés, 470 (November 22).
20.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1974), 487 (April 4).
21.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1975), 534 (April 24).
22.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1978), 666 (April 21).
23.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1980a), 779 (November 21).
24.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1980b), 753 (April 11).
25.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1981), 792 (March 13).
26.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1986), 1036 (September 12).
27.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1987), 1087 (October 23).
28.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1990), 1236 (December 20).
29.
- Libre Service Actualítés (LSA) (1992), 1325 (November 5).
30.
- Points de Vente (PV) (1981), 224 (December 1).
31.
- Points de Vente (PV) (1983), 248 (June 1).
32.
- Sparco (SPC) (1960), 3.
33.
- Sparco (SPC) (1960-1965), 1-70.
34.
AlbertsGerard (2010), “Appropriating America: Americanization in the History of European Computing,” Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE, 32, 4–7.
35.
AlexanderAndrewNellDawnBaileyAdrian R.ShawGareth (2009), “The Co-Creation of a Retail Innovation: Shoppers and the Early Supermarket in Britain,” Enterprise & Society, 10 (3), 529–58.
36.
AlexanderAndrewShawGarethCurthLouise (2005), “Promoting Retail Innovation: Knowledge Flows during the Emergence of Self-Service and Supermarket Retailing in Britain,” Environment and Planning, 37 (5), 805–21.
37.
AlexanderAndrewPhillipsSimonShawGareth (2008), “Retail Innovation and Shopping Practices: Consumers’ Reactions to Self-Service Retailing,” Environment and Planning A, 40 (9), 2204–21.
38.
AlexanderNicholas (2011), “British Overseas Retailing, 1900-60: International Firm Characteristics, Market Selections and Entry Modes,” Business History, 53 (4), 530–56.
39.
AlexanderNicholas (2013), “Retailing in International Markets, 1900-2010: A Response to Godley and Hang's ‘Globalisation and the Evolution of International Retailing: A Comment on Alexander's “British Overseas Retailing, 1900-1960”,” Business History, 55 (2), 302–12.
40.
AlexanderNicholasAkehurstGary (1998), “Introduction: The Emergence of Modern Retailing, 1750-1950,” Business History, 40 (4), 1–15.
41.
Audicana ArcasJulio (2002), Mercadona- Conservas Ubago: El Concepto De Interproveedor. case-study. Spain: Instituto San Telmo de Sevilla.
42.
Barceló VilaLuis V. (1981), “El Principio Constitucional De La Economía De Mercado y La Política De Mercados Agrarios En España,” Agricultura y Sociedad, 21 (4), 61–86.
43.
BarcielaCarlosOrtizMaria I. López (2003), “El Fracaso De La Política Agraria Del Primer Franquismo, 1939-1959. Veinte Años Perdidos Para La Agricultura Española,” in Autarquía y Mercado Negro. El Fracaso Económico Del Primer Franquismo, 1939-1959, BarcielaCarlos, ed. Barcelona: Crítica, 55–94.
44.
BensonJohn (1994), The Rise of Consumer Society in Britain, 1880-1980. London: Longman.
45.
BensonJohnUgoliniLaura (2003), “Introduction: Historians and the Nations Shopkeepers,” in A Nation of Shopkeepers: Five Centuries of British Retailing, BensonJohnUgoliniLaura, eds. London: I.B. Tauris, 1–24.
46.
BowlbyRachel (2000), Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping. London: Faber.
47.
BuckleyPeter J. (2009), “Business History and International Business,” Business History, 51 (3), 307–33.
48.
BurtSteve (1991), “Trends in the internationalization of grocery retailing: the European experience,” International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 1 (4), 487–515.
49.
CalvoOscar (2001), “ᵢBienvenido, Mister Marshall! La Ayuda Económica Americana y La Economía Española En La Década De 1950,” Revista De Historia Económica, 19 (Special issue), 253–75.
50.
CaracallaJean-Paul (1989), Le Roman du Printemps, Histoire d’un Grand Magasin. Paris: Denoél.
51.
Casares RipolJavier (2004), “Las transformaciones en la distribución comercial (1978-2003). Nuevas ideas para contemplar el paisaje,” Revista del Instituto de Estudios Económicos, 2-3, 107–27.
52.
CastroRafael (2010), “Selling Machines. A History of the French Big Retailing in Spain since 1960s,” Revista De Historia Industrial, 44 (3), 97–137.
53.
CastroRafael (2011), Génesis y Transformación De Un Modelo De Inversión Internacional: El Capital Francés En La España Del Siglo XX. Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense.
54.
ChoKang R. (1985), Multinational Banks: Their Identities and Determinants. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press.
55.
ColesTim (1999), “Department Stores as Innovations in Retail Marketing: Some Observations on Marketing Practice and Perception in Wilhelmine, Germany,” Journal of Macromarketing, 19 (1), 34–47.
56.
CollaEnrico (2001), La Grande Distribution Européenne. Paris: Vuibert.
57.
Cruz RocheIgnacio (2012), Los Canales De Distribución Especial Referencia a Los Productos De Alimentación. Madrid: Pirámide.
58.
Cruz RocheIgnacioArévaloAlfonso RebolloGuillénMaria J. Yagüe (2003). “Concentración y competencia en los canales de distribución de productos alimenticios.” Papeles de Economía Española, 96, 112–33.
59.
CuartasJavier (2005), Biografía De El Corte Inglés (Historia De Un Gigante). Oviedo, Spain: El Cruce, D.L.
60.
Cuesta ValiñoPedro (2005), “Estrategias de Crecimiento de las Empresas de Distribución Comercial de Productos de Gran Consumo que Operan en España,”doctoral dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, (accessed June 10, 2013), [available athttp://www.eumed.net/tesis/].
61.
DobsonPaul W.WatersonMichaelDaviesStephen W. (2003), “The Patterns and Implications of Increasing Concentration in European Food Retailing,” Journal of Agricultural Economics, 54 (1), 111–25.
62.
DohertyAnne Marie (1999), “Explaining International Retailers’ Market Entry Mode Strategy: Internalization Theory, Agency Theory and the Importance of Information Asymmetry,” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 9 (4), 379–402.
63.
DosiGiovanni (1982), “Technological Paradigms and Technological Trajectories - a Suggested Interpretation of the Determinants and Directions of Technical Change,” Research Policy, 11 (3), 147–62.
64.
Du GayPaul (2004), “Self-service: Retail, Shopping and personhood,” Consumption, Markets and Culture, 7 (2), 149–63.
65.
EglashRonCroissantJennifer L.di ChiroGiovannaVon FoucheRay, eds. (2004), Appropriating Technology: Vernacular Science and Social Power. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
66.
EisenhardtKathleen M. (1989), “Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review,” Academy of Management Review, 14 (1), 57–74.
67.
FraserW. Hamish (1981), The Coming of the Mass Market 1850-1914. London: Macmillan.
68.
Garcia RuizJose L. (2007), “Cultural Resistance and the Gradual Emergence of Modern Marketing and Retailing Practices in Spain, 1950-1975,” Business History, 49 (3), 367–84.
69.
GardnerCarlSheppardJulie (1989), Consuming Passion: The Rise of Retail Culture. London: Unwin Hyman.
70.
GertlerMeric S. (2001), “Best Practice? Geography, Learning and the Institutional Limits to Strong Convergence,” Journal of Economic Geography, 1 (1), 5–26.
71.
GobinBertrand (2006), Le Secret Des Mulliez. Rennes: La Borne Seize.
72.
GodleyAndrewHangHaiming (2012), “Globalisation and the Evolution of International Retailing: A Comment on Alexander's ’British Overseas Retailing, 1900-1960’,” Business History, 54 (4), 529–41.
73.
Gómez MendozaJosefina (1984), “Estructuras y Estrategias Comerciales Urbanas,” Treballs De La Societat Catalana De Geografía, 1 (1), 36–47.
74.
GuiraoFernando (1998), Spain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945-57: Challenge and Response. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan in association with St Antony's College, Oxford.
75.
HandelmanJay M.ArnoldStephen J. (1999), “The Role of Marketing Actions with a Social Dimension: Appeals to the Institutional Environment,” Journal of Marketing, 63 (3), 33–48.
76.
HollanderStanley C.RassuliKathleen M.Brian JonesD. G.DixLaura Farlow (2005), “Periodization in Marketing History,” Journal of Macromarketing, 25 (1), 32–41.
77.
HuangYingSternquistBrenda (2007), “Retailers’ foreign market entry decisions: An institutional perspective,” International Business Review, 16 (5), 613–29.
78.
JonesGeoffrey (2005), Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
79.
KackerMadhav (1988), “International Flow of Retailing Know-How: Bridging the Technology Gap in Distribution,’’Journal of Retailing, 64 (1), 41–67.
80.
KippingMatthiasBjarnarOve, eds. (1998), The Americanisation of European Business: The Marshall Plan and the Transfer of US Management Models. London: Routledge.
81.
KlopstockFred H. (1973), “Foreign Banks in the USA: Scope and Growth of Operations,” Federal Reserve Bank of Nueva York Monthly Review, 55 (June), 140–54.
82.
Lescent-GilesI. (2002), “The Americanisation of Food Retailing in Britain and in France since the 1960s,” in Americanisation in 20th [Century] Europe: Business, Culture, Politics, KippingMatthiasTiratsooNick, eds. Lille: Centre de Recherche sur l’Histoire de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest, 291–308.
83.
LhermieChristian (2003), Carrefour Ou l’Invention De L’Hypermarché. Paris: Vuibert.
84.
Maixé-AltésJ. Carles (2009a), “Interpreting the Early Stages of the Self-service Revolution in Europe: the Modernization of Food Retailing in Spain, 1947-1972,” Munich Personal RePEc Archive, MPRA paper No. 18164, (accessed March 6, 2013), [available athttp://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:18164].
85.
Maixé-AltésJ. Carles (2009b), “The Modernization of the Food Trade in Spain, 1947-1995,” Revista De Historia Industrial, 41 (3), 125–60.
86.
MarkinRom J.DuncanCalvin P. (1981), “The Transformation of Retailing Institutions: Beyond the Wheel of Retailing and Life Cycle Theories,” Journal of Macromarketing, 1 (1), 58–61.
87.
MathewsJohn A. (2006), “Catch-Up Strategies and the Latecomer Effect in Industrial Development,” New Political Economy, 11 (3), 313–35.
88.
MéndezJosé LuisOuviñaJavier (2002), “La Dependencia de los Canales de Distribución: un Análisis de sus Factores Determinantes desde la Perspectiva del Fabricante,” Dirección y Organización, 28 (October), 174–82.
89.
MolláAlejandroGilIreneFrasquetMartaValletTeresa (2002), “Tendencias de la Investigación en Distribución Comercial en España,” Distribución y Consumo, 61 (January-February), 114–28.
90.
MorenoJulio E. (2010), “In the Shadow of the Giant: The Americanization of Modern Mexico,” Enterprise & Society, 11 (3), 659–61.
91.
Moreno LázaroJavier (2012), “Los Españoles y La Revolución Comercial Mexicana: Las Cadenas De Supermercados, 1921-2011,” Investigaciones De Historia Económica, 8 (2), 69–82.
92.
MorrisJonathan (1999), “Contesting Retail Space in Italy: Competition and Corporatism 1915–60,” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 9 (3), 291–306.
93.
NelsonRichard R.WinterSidney G. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
94.
NolanMary (1994), Visions of Modernity: American Business and the Modernization of Germany. New York: Oxford University Press.
95.
Ortizde Zárate (2010), Interview with Álvaro Ortiz de Zárate, Madrid, 25 February 2010
96.
País (2005), “Special issue about German distribution,” El País, September 29, 37-39.
97.
Prados de la EscosuraLeandro (2003), El Progreso Económico De Españą (1850-2000). Bilbao: Fundacion BBVA.
98.
PuigNuria (2003), “Educating Spanish Managers: The United States, Modernizing Networks, and Business Schools in Spain, 1950-1975,” in Inside the Business Schools: The Content of European Management Education, AmdamRolv PetterKvalshaugenRagnhildLarsenEirinn, eds. Oslo: Abstrakt Press, 58–86.
99.
PuigNuriaAlvaroAdoración (2004), “La guerra fría y los empresarios españoles: la articulación de los intereses económicos de Estados Unidos en España, 1950-1975,” Revista de Historia Económica, 22 (2), 387–424.
100.
ReardonThomasBerdeguéJulio A. (2002), “The Rapid Rise of Supermarkets in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities for Development,” Development Policy Review, 20 (4), 371–88.
101.
RogersEverett M. (2003), Diffusion of Innovations. New York: Free Press.
102.
SandgrenFredrik (2009), “From ‘Peculiar Stores’ to ‘a New Way of Thinking’: Discussions on Self-Service in Swedish Trade Journals, 1935-1955,” Business History, 51 (5), 734–53.
103.
SawhneyMohanbirWolcottRobert C.ArronizInigo (2006), “The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate,” MIT Sloan Management Review, 47 (3), 75–81.
104.
SchröterHarm G. (2008), “The Americanisation of Distribution and its Limits: The Case of the German Retail System, 1950–1975,” European Review of History, 15, 445–58.
105.
ShawGarethAlexanderAndrew (2008), “British Co-Operative Societies as Retail Innovators: Interpreting the Early Stages of the Self-Service Revolution,” Business History, 50 (1), 62–78.
106.
ShawGarethAlexanderAndrewBensonJohnHodsonD. (2000), “The Evolving Culture of Retailer Regulation and the Failure of the ‘Balfour Bill’ in Interwar Britain,” Environment and Planning A, 32 (11), 1977–89.
107.
ShawGarethCurthLouiseAlexanderAndrew (2004), “Selling Self-Service and the Supermarket: The Americanisation of Food Retailing in Britain, 1945-60,” Business History, 46 (4), 568–82.
108.
SordetClaude (1997), Les Grandes Voix Du Commerce. Paris: Editions Liaisons.
109.
SordetClaudeWantzJean-François (2005), Paul-Louis Halley: De Promodès à Carrefour. Paris: Editions d’Organisation.
110.
SwentorAugust W. (1959), El Autoservicio En Las Tiendas De Alimentación [Self-service in retail food outlets]. Madrid: Madrid Chamber of Commerce.
111.
TobosoPilar (2001), Pepín Fernández: 1891-1982: Galerías Preciados, El Pionero De Los Grandes Almacenes. Madrid: LID Editorial Empresarial.
112.
TobosoPilar (2007), Galerías Preciados, El Corte Inglés: Pepín Fernández, César Rodríguez, Ramón Areces. México DF: Universidad A. M. Iztapalapa.
113.
TonZeynepHarrowSimon (2012), “Mercadona,” Case-study 9-610-089. Boston: Harvard Business School.
114.
TschoeglAdrian E. (1987), “International Retail Banking as a Strategy: An Assessment,” Journal of International Business Studies, 19 (2), 67–88.
115.
Uriel JiménezEzequielMoltóMaría L.TormoVicent Cucarella (2000), Contabilidad Nacional De España: Series Enlazadas 1954-1997 (CNEe-86). Bilbao: Fundación BBV.
116.
ViñasAngel (1981), “La Primera Ayuda Económica Norteamericana a España,” in Lecturas De Economía Española Internacional. 50 Aniversario Del Cuerpo De Técnicos Comerciales Del Estado, Anonymous Madrid: Ministerio de Economía y Comercio, 49–90.
117.
WalterIngoPeter GrayH. (1983), “Protectionism and International Banking - Sectorial Efficiency, Competitive Structure and National Policy,” Journal of Banking & Finance, 7 (4), 597–609.
118.
WengerEtienne (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
119.
WengerEtienne C.SnyderWilliam M. (2000), “Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier,” Harvard Business Review, 78 (January-February), 139–45.
120.
ZeitlinJonathan (2000), “Introduction: Americanisation and its Limits: Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-War Europe and Japan,” in Americanisation and its Limits: Reworking US Technology and Management In Post-War Europe and Japan, ZeitlinJonathanHerrigelGary, eds. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
