The increase in competitive pressure in the wine industry has led French wine companies to consider creating and developing intangible capital as a means of defending their competitive position. The aim of this paper is first to measure intangible expenses and capital, and estimates their impact on companies’ performances. Secondly, we will analyze the impact of property structures (cooperatives and corporations) and business activities on the intensity of the relationship between intangibility and performance.

In this paper, we tested previous relationships empirically by means of an enquiry questionnaire carried out in 2005-2006. Questionnaire data were completed using financial statements for 207 companies whose activity included one or more stages in the production and marketing of wine.

Using MANOVA and the production function approach, we found evidence that intangible proxies had a negative impact on the firms' economic performance measurements and a positive impact on commercial performance for intermediate values of intangible ratios. We also found that production functions were very different with regard to legal status and business activity, but that the negative impact of intangible proxies remained.

JEL classification: Q13, L33, L10

Keywords: Intangible; MANOVA; Performance; Production function; Wine industry