The Economic Efficiency of Channels of Distribution in a Developing Society: The Case of the Guatemalan Retail Sector

Abstract

This article proposes to analyze the economic and societal circumstances which affected the development process of the Guatemalan retail sector from the mid-1960s to the present. The purpose is to examine the relative contribution of marketing institutions to the development process during the implementation of import substitution industrialization policies. It suggests that channels of distribution reflect the economic and social circumstances of a society; therefore, a particular structure of retailing activities, while not "modern" in a technological sense, may still be beneficial to the society and, in a larger sense, economically efficient.