Exploring Firm Performance of the Wine Industry in Portugal Using a Two-Stage Efficiency Analysis

This article aims to assess the firm performance of the wine industry in Portugal. A two-stage efficiency analysis was applied to a sample of firms from the Amadeus database, where a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and a fractional regression model were used to quantify efficiency and to determine the influence external environmental factors have on it. The results highlighted a dichotomy in terms of resources and strategies between small and medium-sized companies on the one hand, and large companies on the other hand. Efficient and inefficient companies differ mainly in terms of their output variables. Territorial opportunities associated with sustainability and innovation positively influence firm performance in the industry. Our findings extend knowledge relating to the relationship between efficiency, environmental context and firm strategy, and may help managers to adopt measures to improve performance and policymakers to design new policy measures.