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Belgium's historic beer diversity: should we raise a pint to institutions?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2019

Eline Poelmans Open the ORCID record for Eline Poelmans [Opens in a new window]  and
Jason E. Taylor Open the ORCID record for Jason E. Taylor [Opens in a new window]
Eline Poelmans
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business, campus Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Jason E. Taylor*
Affiliation:
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Despite its relatively small size, Belgium has historically been considered to have the most diverse array of beer varieties in the world. We explore whether Belgium's institutional history has contributed to its beer diversity. The Belgian area has experienced a heterogeneous and variable array of institutional regimes over the last millennia. In many cases institutional borders crossed through the Belgian area. We trace the historical development of many of Belgium's well-known beer varieties to specific institutional causes. We also show that the geographic production of important varieties, such as Old Brown, Red Brown, Trappist, Lambic, Saison, and Gruitbeer, continues to be influenced by Belgium's institutional past.

Keywords

Beer varietyBelgiuminstitutionspath dependence
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 695 - 713
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2019 

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