Competitiveness in the Australian wine industry: A story of loss and renewal

This chapter will provide historical and empirical contexts for an exploration of competitiveness within the Australian wine industry. It will trace the evolution of this competitiveness and the structural and policy frameworks that have changed its meaning and its application. Most importantly, the chapter will highlight the three distinct phases of competitiveness: technological advantage, price advantage, and the current attempt at product advantage. The success or failure of each of these phases is examined using empirical data and against an international background of rapidly shifting wine landscapes. Specifically, the author will focus on historical developments, firm responses to market changes, policy responses and implications, and the role that clusters have played in the evolution of industry-wide competitiveness