This article analyzes the effectiveness of hedging Brazilian soy oil, soy meal, and soybeans in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and in the Brazilian Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&F) to reduce the risk of financial loss due to commodity price fluctuations. The econometric results show that a cross-hedging strategy using the BM&F soybean futures contract is an instrument of low effectiveness for managing soy oil and soy meal price risk. Despite low effectiveness, the estimates demonstrate total advantage for soy meal hedging operations using CBOT soy meal futures contracts rather than cross-hedging using BM&F soybean futures contracts. With some exceptions, the results are also more favorable for hedging soy oil with soy oil futures contracts at the CBOT rather than cross hedging with soybeans at the BM&F. Conversely, Brazilian traders hedging soybeans receive more effective risk protection by trading soybean futures contracts at the BM&F than by trading soybean futures contracts at the CBOT.

Este trabalho analisa os efeitos das políticas comercial e cambial adotadas na primeira fase do Plano Real sobre alguns indicadores macroeconômicos e a produção de setores do agronegócio brasileiro. Utilizando um modelo de Equilíbrio Geral Computável (EGC), foram simuladas as medidas de política econômica e os resultados obtidos foram comparados com a situação de referência, na ausência de tais políticas. Constatou-se que, em geral, o agronegócio beneficiou-se da redução de tarifas de importação e da desvalorização cambial ocorridas após a implementação do plano de estabilização em 1994

A risk analysis for the installation of milk cooling tanks (250, 500 and 1,000 L) on Brazilian rural properties was conducted in this study. The results showed that all investments had a return higher than the annual 12% minimum rate of attractiveness. There was a direct relationship between tank size and investment profitability and an inverse relation between size and risk. The probability of achieving returns lower than the opportunity cost was highest for the smallest tank (42%). In order to make the investment in small cooling tanks more attractive, the dairy industry incentives offered to farmers for supplying cooled milk could be increased. However, this approach might make investments in bulk milk collection by dairy companies infeasible. Thus, a recommendable strategy for a successful modernization of the Brazilian dairy sector’s inbound logistics would be to promote an increase in the volume of the milk produced per farm.

This article analyzes the effectiveness of hedging Brazilian soy oil, soy meal, and soybeans in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and in the Brazilian Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&F) to reduce the risk of financial loss due to commodity price fluctuations. The econometric results show that a cross-hedging strategy using the BM&F soybean futures contract is an instrument of low effectiveness for managing soy oil and soy meal price risk. Despite low effectiveness, the estimates demonstrate total advantage for soy meal hedging operations using CBOT soy meal futures contracts rather than cross-hedging using BM&F soybean futures contracts. With some exceptions, the results are also more favorable for hedging soy oil with soy oil futures contracts at the CBOT rather than cross hedging with soybeans at the BM&F. Conversely, Brazilian traders hedging soybeans receive more effective risk protection by trading soybean futures contracts at the BM&F than by trading soybean futures contracts at the CBOT.

O Brasil viveu, em 2001, uma crise de oferta de energia elétrica sem precedentes que coincidiu com o processo de reestruturação do setor elétrico brasileiro e possibilitou aos autoprodutores de energia elétrica,como o setor sucroalcooleiro, comercializarem o excedente de energia, obtidos pelo processo de cogeração, que apesar do elevado potencial de comercialização, não está sendo devidamente aproveitado. Este trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar o mercado de energia elétrica cogerada e analisar os obstáculos à comercialização da energia cogerada, à luz da existência dos custos de transação e econômicos, enfrentados pelo setor sucroalcooleiro e distribuidoras. Para a coleta de informações, foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com o responsável pela área de cogeração das usinas e distribuidora de energia, que consistiam em perguntas pré-determinadas que foram lidas na mesma ordem e da mesma maneira para todos os entrevistados para assegurar a comparabilidade dos resultados. As entrevistas foram gravadas, transcritas e examinadas por meio da análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicaram que poderiam ser estabelecidos contratos de longo prazo, mas os custos de transação e econômicos entre os agentes podem estar superando os benefícios da comercialização de energia elétrica cogerada, fazendo os agentes atuarem preferencialmente no mercado spot

This work evaluates the economic efficiency of productive resource utilization in the cultivation of soybeans in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The study area comprises the state’s main soybean producing counties. Economic efficiency was estimated for a sample of 151 soybean producers through the production frontier function. The producers in the state’s northern region are operating near the established production frontier, signaling a favorable tendency in resource reallocation and achieving efficiency.

This study characterizes the use of risk monitoring mechanisms by coffee and soybean trading and processing companies. It also investigates the role these mechanisms play in the mitigation of certain transaction costs associated to bounded rationality, information asymmetry, and business opportunism in negotiations involving derivatives. The results presented are based on literature and original research, which consisted of interviews with 19 coffee and soybean trading and processing company agents that deal with the management and execution of derivatives trades. The interviews suggest that the interest in formal risk monitoring mechanisms depends strongly on the organizational structure of the business. In family businesses, in which the owner participates actively in negotiations, the interest is limited. In non-family businesses, where there is a clear separation between supervisory upper-management and agents involved with trading, the interest in risk monitoring systems is more evident. This result seems to indicate that the mitigation of transaction costs associated with information asymmetry and opportunism might be stronger motivations for interest in risk monitoring mechanisms than the costs resulting from bounded rationality.

This work evaluates the economic efficiency of productive resource utilization in the cultivation of soybeans in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The study area comprises the states main soybean producing counties. Economic efficiency was estimated for a sample of 151 soybean producers through the production frontier function. The producers in the states northern region are operating near the established production frontier, signaling a favorable tendency in resource reallocation and achieving efficiency.

The work analyzes the political/institutional links and technological formats of agroforestry systems in the Caí and Taquari river valleys of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in an effort to determine a value for their ability to endure: their sustainability. Sustainability indicators are created for the analysis of these systems. The indicator values will be used to create a Sustainability Index (SI) for each studied agroforestry system and to identify each systems sustainability pattern. The different agroforestry systems will also be classified according to their structural characteristics. Analysis of the identified patterns and indexes will reveal the adequacy of the methodology employed and the consequence of each systems institutional arrangement, technological format, and sustainability pattern. The agro forestry system that combines exotic forest species with watermelon and the system that combines native forest species with citrus fruit stand out as being most sustainable while, from an institutional perspective, those systems that were linked in an "associative" arrangement had the highest sustainability index values.

Focusing on changes in agricultural policy, this paper examines the economic impacts on MERCOSUL member country economies arising from the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and a free trade area between MERCOSUL and the European Union (MERCOEURO). Four simulations are run using the Global Trade Analysis Projects (GTAP) applied general equilibrium model. The results suggest these new trade alliances would cause an increase in MERCOSUL agribusiness production and a decrease in MERCOSUL manufactures production. In all simulations, agricultural trade flows are greatly altered and the exportation of MERCOSUL agribusiness products expands. However, the MERCOSUL countries experience overall economic growth in only the MERCOEURO scenarios. The elimination of agriculture production and export subsidies by members of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and European Union (E.U.) would have strong economic impacts on the economies of MERCOSUL countries.