title: Analysis of the economic structure of the eating-out sector: The case of Spain.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics, University of Oviedo, Spain. Electronic address: lcabie@uniovi.es.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cabiedes-Miragaya
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D062407:Meals; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics*; D013030:Spain
keywords: Eating-out sector; Economic structure; Food service; ICT; Restaurants; Spain