Department of Applied Economics, University of Oviedo, Spain.
Appetite. 2017 Dec 1;119:64-76. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.01.018. Epub 2017 Jan 19.
The objective of this article is to analyse the structure of the Spanish eating-out sector from an economic point of view, and more specifically, from the supply perspective. This aspect has been studied less than the demand side, almost certainly due to the gaps which exist in available official statistics in Spain, and which have been filled basically with consumer surveys. For this reason, focus is also placed on the economic relevance of the sector and attention is drawn to the serious shortcomings regarding official statistics in this domain, in contrast to the priority that hotel industry statistics have traditionally received in Spain. Based on official statistics, a descriptive analysis was carried out, focused mainly, though not exclusively, on diverse structural aspects of the sector. Special emphasis was placed on issues such as business demography (for instance, number and types of enterprises, survival rates, size distribution, and age structure), market concentration and structure of costs. Among other conclusions, the analysis allowed us to conclude that: part of the sector is more concentrated than it may at first appear to be; the dual structure of the sector described by the literature in relation to other countries is also present in the Spanish case; and the impact of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) on the sector are, and will foreseeably continue to be, particularly relevant. The main conclusion of this study refers to the fact that consumers have gained prominence in their contribution to shaping the structure of the sector.
本文旨在从经济角度，更具体地从供给方面分析西班牙外出就餐行业的结构。这一方面的研究不如需求方面充分，这几乎肯定是由于西班牙现有官方统计数据存在差距，而这些差距基本上是通过消费者调查来填补的。因此，本文还重点关注了该行业的经济重要性，并提请注意在这一领域官方统计数据的严重不足，与西班牙传统上对酒店业统计数据的重视形成鲜明对比。基于官方统计数据，进行了描述性分析，主要集中但不仅限于该行业的各种结构方面。特别强调了企业人口统计学（例如企业数量和类型、生存率、规模分布和年龄结构）、市场集中和成本结构等问题。在其他结论中，分析结果表明：该行业的一部分比最初看起来更加集中；文献中描述的与其他国家有关的行业双重结构也存在于西班牙；信息和通信技术（ICT）对该行业的影响已经并且可以预见将继续具有特别重要的意义。本研究的主要结论是，消费者在塑造行业结构方面的作用日益突出。
