Coordination of Winegrape Supply Chains in Emerging Markets

This study investigates factors influencing coordination of winegrape procurement in emerging wine regions in Michigan, Missouri, and New York. Wineries in these emerging regions face different vertical coordination challenges than in well-established regions, which may affect procurement choices. Results corroborate prior findings that quality considerations and the need to safeguard investments in specialized assets, respectively, increase usage of more formal coordination mechanisms like written contracts and vertical integration or ownership. Consistent with prior findings of studies of wineries in established wine regions, we find that perceived difficulty in measuring grape quality attributes leads to tighter coordination; a point previously undocumented for emerging regions. [EconLit citation: Q130]