The Armenian Wine Industry: Entrepreneurship, History, Legacy and Institutions

The chapter focuses on highlighting the entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities for the Armenian wine industry during the twentieth century, with a special emphasis on events after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Theoretically, the study departs from the assumption that to understand long-term industrial change it is necessary to apply a long-term view. In this case with inspiration from the French Annales School, which argues that long-term development occurs through periods of economic prosperity alternated with periods of economic crisis. Institutions are used as theoretical concepts to analyse industrial development and the consequences of institutional change on the spatial distribution and spatially differentiated impact of institutions on the wine industry and on single firms in various periods. Results indicate that despite the rich ancient history and heritage related to the wine industry, central decisions made by the Soviets led to the marginalization of Armenian wine production. This led to a loss of both cultural and biological heritage. From being one of the territories in which wine was invented, Armenian wine production became decimated. The impact of legislative frameworks and ideologically driven campaigns also led to the assassination and deportation of wine industrialists during the dekulakization campaigns. The re-emerging wine industry after 1991 had no experience nor know-how to fall back on; however, this also enabled companies to start fresh and adjust production to state-of-the-art knowledge.