Technological Modernization and Business Change in the Barcelona Beer Industry, 1870-1913. A Chandlerian Approach

The start of the production of bottom-fermented beer in Barcelona, at the beginning of the 1870s, resulted in a drink with organoleptic characteristics that made it more popular: less alcohol and more frothy and transparent than the top-fermented beer made until then. Its production resulted in greater investment in new technologies, including the production of artificial refrigeration, which led to a marked increase in fixed costs. This meant, on the one hand, external financing requirements. Furthermore, it encouraged the development of partnership strategies due to overproduction. Finally, launched mergers appeared, motivated by the emergence of economies of scale and leading to the formation of an oligopoly in 1910. These strategies, used to consolidate a new structure in the Barcelona brewing industry, have many points in common with the principles of big business enunciated by Chandler.