Over the past decade, U.S. agri-beverage supply chains have undergone a dramatic transformation. The emergence of thousands of craft breweries, for example, has revolutionized the U.S. beer industry. Their presence has garnished debate on supply chain regulatory reform and heightened conversations on creating more diverse, flexible, and resilient value chains post-COVID-19. This dissertation explores state-level regulatory patterns in the beer supply chain, the effectiveness of COVID-19 relief programs on craft beverage manufacturer performance, and constraints and marketing opportunities in valueadded food systems. The first essay, titled "Regulatory restrictions across the beer supply chain," explores regulatory patterns across the three-tier beer supply chain using Mercatus Center RegData. Specifically, the study assesses the number of direct and indirect regulatory restrictions constraining the behavior of breweries, wholesalers, and retailers at the federal and state levels. The results suggest more than 125,000 regulatory restrictions constraining the average beer supply chain, with roughly 90% of the constraints imposed at the federal level. There is substantial heterogeneity at the state level, where additional rules targeting the beer supply chain vary between 1,177 and 25,399 restrictions. These findings emphasize the need for businesses to develop a deep institutional understanding of the governing constraints of each state they operate in. Discussion also surrounds how the patchwork approach to policy construction and the regional policy landscape can constrain business growth and entrepreneurial activities. The second essay, titled "The Paycheck Protection Program and small business performance: Evidence from craft breweries," evaluates the effectiveness of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the craft beer market. The PPP provided $790 billion in COVID19 relief funds to nearly 12 million small businesses. The study examines the relationship between PPP funding and small business performance by merging PPP loan data from the Small Business Administration with a verified industry dataset of craft beer producers. Results suggest that firms that receive PPP funding are more likely to remain in operation and experience a smaller decline in annual production from 2019 to 2020. Further, using a quasi-experiment that exploits a natural break in the loan program, the study suggests a positive causal effect of the role of loan timing on short-run performance. The results provide evidence that the PPP alleviated losses induced by COVID-19, but questions remain about the program's distribution and long-term impact. The third essay is titled "Hopping on the localness craze: Local value chain constraints and opportunities." The study uses survey data from Michigan craft breweries to determine the leading indicators of local hop purchasing decisions. The U.S. is the global leader in hop production, and 96% of domestic hops are grown in the Pacific Northwest. However, with the emergence of craft breweries, there is budding interest in developing local beer value chains. The study evaluates production and marketing challenges in local hop industries to identify the key factors constraining their expansion. Results suggest that perceived input consistency and higher transaction costs are two critical limiting factors. However, as local markets overcome these challenges, there could be avenues for valueadded marketing. In the survey, brewers indicate whether different initiatives would incentivize them to purchase more locally-sourced hops. Developing a unique and improved cultivar selection, as well as farm brewery legislation, are amongst the most favored initiatives. The essay offers discussion on these topics and opens avenues for future research. Food and beverage supply chain resiliency and sustainability now dominate policy conversations, and stakeholders are searching for ways to improve supply chain efficiency and flexibility. This dissertation discusses how regulatory volume, governmental policy, and agricultural production and marketing challenges influence supply chain efficiency. Highlighting these issues, the insights are aimed to guide policymakers and industry stakeholders on future decision-making across agri-beverage supply chains.℗
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