The structure of the alcohol industry as it relates to transportation issues

The alcoholic beverage industry has undergone marked changes in its structure over the past several decades, and these changes have important implications to drinking and driving problems. In Canada and elsewhere, the industry has been generally transformed from a large set of small firms owned by entrepreneurs to a very small set of large international corporations with extensive and complex intercorporate connections. After describing trends in alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking, this paper examines the structure of the beverage alcohol industry in Canada. It is found that the distilling and brewing industries are highly concentrated and oligopolistic, while viticulture is more fragmented and regional in character. With regard to impact on drinking and driving problems, there are both positive and negative effects. On one hand, barriers to entry into the market are high and competition thereby restricted, thus avoiding certain excesses associated with fierce competition. Further, the large distillers and brewers, being able to afford advertising outlays and the temporary unprofitability necessary to introduce new products, have introduced lower alcohol content beverages which may eventually have a positive impact on drinking and driving incidents. On the other hand, there is little doubt that the industry structure greatly facilitates the promotion of alcohol consumption and, by contributing to the increased exposure of drivers to alcohol, thus exacerbates drinking and driving problems.