Firm Creation, Firm Evolution and Clusters in Chile’s Dynamic Wine Sector: Evidence from the Colchagua and Casablanca Regions

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It is clear that these innovations carried out have massively benefited the evolution of the
companies surveyed. However, it is not without wariness that these innovations are
implemented. The main risks being cited are the costs involved, carrying out innovations
that will not improve quality, resistance to change and efficiency of personnel to carry
out the changes involved. These perceived risks after being correlated with those found
by Olavarria et al (2008) can be proven to be similar.

When the surveyed actors were asked what they thought were the main risks in the
present day for their business, an evident problem encountered by all the firms in both
valleys was the exchange rate. As Serrano (2008) says he remembers when the exchange
rate was 740 to the dollar and today it is around 450. This has affected sales transactions
carried out in dollars, especially for companies with big sales in the U.S, and with budget
calculations done at the start of the year on a better exchange rate.

Another major problem that many wineries highlighted was the image Chile had outside
of the country. Tourism in both valleys can promote the region but there is a definite
emphasis on the need for government spending. Phelps (2008) from Viu Manent winery
complains that Chile has only spent $5 million on branding itself internationally, which if
you compare it to inputs from the public sectors in other countries is very little.

Fernandez (2008) from Santa Rita winery says that the position of Chile needs to be
made clearer; it can be backed up by an Interbrand study (Arnold et al, 2002) which
showed that Chile, the country, barely had an image with overseas consumers, so this
needs urgent investment. Furthermore, specialized customers should be targeted through

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