Food industry structure in Norway and Denmark since the 1990s: Path dependency and institutional trajectories in Nordic food markets

•Food industry structure in Norway and Denmark corresponds to institutional market policies.•Since the 1990s Denmark has moved down its export dependent path of agri-industrialisation.•The 1990s constitutes a breaking point in Norway's protectionist path of agri-industrialisation.•Norwegian and Danish agri-industrialisation follows a path dependent trajectory.

Structural changes in Norwegian and Danish food industry since the 1990s is analysed as a path dependent response to the neo-liberal turn. Norway entered the 1990s as a protected market and Denmark as case of an export oriented industry. These developmental strategies are rooted in early 20th century industrialisation and influenced by institutional transformations in the 1990s, such as EU and WTO. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are studied in the context of changing political environments. Explaining two different trajectories, we combine path dependency theories and a Polanyi inspired 'varieties of capitalism' framework with corporate strategy theories on food industry M&As. We identify two different types of path dependent development, a self-reinforcing in Denmark and a transformative 'breaking point' in Norway.