From Relationship Asymmetry to Market: Spatial and Organizational Dynamics in Beer Wholesaling

This dissertation focuses on how spatial and organizational dynamics affect the inequality among intermediary organizations. I explain why in the brewing industry the number of intermediaries (i.e. wholesalers) declined, while their suppliers (i.e. brewers) proliferated in the past 30 years. By focusing on factors of organizational structure and competitive pressure, I examine their survival chances and the factors that contribute to the expansion and diversity of their portfolio. Results explicate conditions under which organizations act in seemingly counterintuitive ways, outline new concepts to explain their behavior, and highlight the institutional consequences on how the shifting social logic underlying market transactions feeds inequality among intermediary organizations.