Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Pierangelo De Pace

Reader 2

Corey Tazzara

Abstract

Due to historical and geographic structures, the northern Italian region of Piedmont produces a significant quantity of premium quality wines. With consideration of historical, cultural, and economic patterns, this project examines the impact of European Union regulatory designations, product packaging, export quantity, and other factors on the export value of Italian wine reported for the 2020-2021 year. The project data is sourced from the European Commission, the European Union’s executive regulatory body, and after constructing a multiple linear regression model, results indicate that regulatory designation, product packaging, and quantity exported exhibit a significant positive effect on wine export price. By examining a smaller dataset consisting solely of Piedmont-grown wines as a case study, I confirmed that the same variables that caused price increases in the larger Italian dataset also positively impacted the trade price of Piedmont wines, accounting for the region’s premium quality reputation. Though the Piedmont region wines carry a premium-quality reputation enforced by their tight regulation and highest-tier appellation of origin, I conclude that their trade value is also highly influenced by the product packaging and quantity exported, mirroring the trend present on the national Italian scale. Therefore, an overall positive relationship between export quantity, quality-based regulatory designation, product packaging, and export price was confirmed. Policy implications suggest that European Union regulation is effective in preserving premium reputation markers, but that quality control issues and incentives to inflate prices could develop. Finally, future research could analyze alternative Italian regions, such as Tuscany, apply this model to the trade data of other European nations, or gather time-series data to measure trade patterns and determine the enduring significance of these factors.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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