INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT DURING CRISIS: THE CASE OF THE BREWER INDUSTRY IN CYPRUS, GREECE, IRELAND AND PORTUGAL
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT DURING CRISIS: THE CASE OF THE BREWER INDUSTRY IN CYPRUS, GREECE, IRELAND AND PORTUGAL

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the evolution of brewing during the financial crisis on the basis of four countries, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. These countries asked for financial assistance and imposed restructuring programs that exacerbated the financial crisis. The examined period is extended from 2008 to 2017 and it is a period during which the adjustment programs were applied to these countries. The purpose of this article is to see if during the crisis an industry can have growth prospects. This search is based on the fact that during the crisis some countries or sectors or products can perform better than the whole. The examination was based on a comparative analysis between the four countries but also with the European Union countries considered as a whole. The paper focused on the comparative evolution regarding production, consumption, number of breweries and microbreweries and direct employment. The results showed that brewery production in the four countries was affected by the country’s GDP growth. However it increased particularly in the second half of the period considered. This evolution was positively affected by the growth of tourism, especially in Greece and Portugal. The creation of breweries by small producers, especially in the second half of the period, is characteristic of the brewery's growth. New microbreweries have helped to create new jobs in countries with higher unemployment than the EU as a whole.

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