In recent policies of international trade, Brazil has stimulated the formation of export consortiums, particularly among small and medium sized companies. Over the years some consortiums have been seen which have been successful, such as Flor Brasil/DF, while others have closed down their activities early, such as Ceará Vest Export/CE. Using the case study method, and taking the above-mentioned consortiums as a reference, this work sought to identify the intensity with which joint learning actions, cooperation and innovation determine the efficiency or inefficiency of beachwear export consortiums in the international market. The analyses were carried out based on the concept of Collective Efficiency. The results demonstrate that the efficiency of the Brazilian consortiums was due to the obtaining of competitive advantages derived from the joint actions of inter-company innovations adopted by businesses, while the inefficiency of consortiums in Ceara was due mainly to the lack of cooperation among companies.