A irrigação iniciada no final da década de sessenta foi a principal responsável pelo marcante desenvolvimento ocorrido no pólo Petrolina/Juazeiro. Com a irrigação chegaram empresas agrícolas para a região, antes voltadas para outras atividades, como a pecuária extensiva. Supõe-se, então, que a moderna tecnologia usada na irrigação, combinada com a utilização de insumos, permite um nível de produção próximo ou sobre a fronteira de produção. Estudos preliminares constataram haver marcada heterogeneidade entre as empresas, em que pese o uso de pacotes tecnológicos semelhantes e a fruticultura, hoje, ser a atividade predominante. Portanto, este trabalho visa analisar a eficiência técnica das empresas agrícolas do pólo utilizando o modelo de função Translog para obter uma fronteira eficiente. A análise dos resultados mostra que o modelo apresenta escores de eficiência significantes. A análise comparativa entre os principais perímetros revela que a maior parte das firmas eficientes estão localizadas nos perímetros de Nilo Coelho e Maniçoba ou são externas aos perímetros. | The irrigation programs started in the late 60's were chiefly responsible for the impressive development occurred in the Petrolina/Juazeiro areas. Along with irrigation, came some agricultural enterprises that had been previously dedicated to other economic activities such as extensive cattle production. The main hypothesis of this study is that modern technology used in irrigation, combined with input usage, allow for a production level near or at the production frontier. Preliminary studies concluded that there is heterogeneity among enterprises, where similar technological packages are used and fruit production is the dominant production. Therefore, this study analyzes technical efficiency of agricultural enterprises in the studied area using a Translog function model to attain an efficient frontier. Results show that the model has significant efficiency scores. The comparative analysis among main irrigation areas shows that most of the efficient firms are located in the government delimited irrigation areas of Nilo Coelho and Maniçoba or outside delimited irrigation areas.

O objetivo central deste estudo é analisar os sistemas de contratação do trabalhador temporário na agricultura brasileira, e, principalmente, por meio das cooperativas de trabalhadores rurais, e considerando a ótica das instituições jurídicas. O estudo foi abordado a partir da abordagem da Nova Economia Institucional. As instituições jurídicas são importantes componentes na formatação do sistema de contratação; a atuação dessas instituições tende a restringir algumas formas de contratação e incentivar outras. Verificou-se que as instituições jurídicas apresentavam grandes restrições quanto ao funcionamento e contratação das cooperativas de trabalhadores rurais, pois muitas delas apresentavam um caráter fraudulento, acarretando perda de diretos trabalhistas à mão-de-obra que prestava serviço nas propriedades rurais por meio das cooperativas. Além disso, as empresas que contratavam essas cooperativas estariam gerando elevados riscos potenciais de custos de transação adotando este sistema de contração de trabalhadores rurais. | The purpose of this study is to analyze the agricultural seasonal labor contract system and mainly the rural labor cooperatives, from the legal system's point of view. Legal institutions are important components that affect the agricultural seasonal labor contract. Therefore, these institutions trend to restrict some contract frameworks and to provide incentive to other contracts. The work verified that rural labor cooperatives have high restrictions from legal institutions. The reason is the high incidence of corruption in this contract system. Thus, there is a potential increase in the transactions cost of the labor contract system.

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 main objective of this study was to identify and analyze the sources of inefficiency in family operated small agricultural properties in the Brazilian state of Bahias Recôncavo region from a sample of 44 producers. A non-parametric approach, in the context of cost minimizing behavior under constant returns to scale, was used to estimate the indices of technical, scale, allocative, and total (economic or cost) efficiency. Results indicated that the largest source small family farm inefficiency in the Recôncavo region is allocative inefficiency, that is to say, the non-observance of price relationships when making production decisions. On the average, 79.1% of these farms total inefficiency is due to allocative inefficiency, 9.3% to technical inefficiency, and 11.7% to scale inefficiency.

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.

A necessidade de regulamentação no sistema agroindustrial (SAG) da borracha natural no Brasil é evidente. Desde a metade do século, quando o país passou a importar esse produto, vários esforços governamentais vêm sendo definidos, objetivando o desenvolvimento sustentável do setor da produção agrícola nacional de borracha. No ano de 1997, criou-se uma política de subvenção direta à produção. Dada a estrutura desse SAG, associada à conjuntura do mercado internacional e a uma regulamentação falha do governo federal, começaram a surgir indícios de abuso de poder de mercado pela indústria pneumática instalada no país, principal consumidora do produto. Utilizando o arcabouço teórico da organização industrial, neste artigo se procurou levantar evidências nesse sentido. | The need for regulation of Brazils natural rubber agro-industrial system (SAG) is evident. Since the middle of the 20th century, when the country began importing rubber, many governmental efforts have been made to promote the sustainable development of Brazils natural rubber productive sector. In 1997, the Brazilian government created a direct subvention policy to assist rubber producers. Given the structure of Brazils SAG, the international rubber market, and imperfect regulation by the Federal Government, it would not be unexpected to find signs that Brazils largest natural rubber consumer, the domestic tire industry, has begun to abusively exercise its market power. Using the theoretical structure of Industrial Organization, this paper tries to show evidences of this abuse.

No alto Jequitinhonha, nordeste de Minas Gerais, a principal forma de os lavradores adquirirem terra é através da herança, sua própria ou do cônjuge ou, ainda, através da junção das duas. É muito difícil que se adquiram terra por outras vias. Assim, o dono da terra é antes de tudo um herdeiro, e a terra é, principalmente, um patrimônio formado pela família. O objetivo deste artigo foi analisar como posse e uso da terra se compõem com o ambiente e com a família, formando com ambos uma urdidura que passa pelo trabalho, pela herança, pela migração e pelo casamento, fornecendo elementos importantes para compreensão da sociedade rural e das formas de domínio da terra que se estabeleceram naquela região. | In the High Jequitinhonha region of northeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil, farmers acquire land principally through inheritance: their own, their spouses, or a combination of the two. The owner of the land is, before anything else, an heir; and the land is primarily a family patrimony. The objective of this article is to add to the understanding of Brazilian rural society and rural forms of land control by analyzing the interaction among land ownership, land use, the environment, and the family, focusing on the effect of this combination on the inheritance process, migration, work, and marriage.

No presente trabalho, analisou-se a rentabilidade econômica dos reflorestamentos com essências nativas brasileiras destinados à produção de toras, considerando como caso em estudo o Estado de São Paulo. Na revisão de literatura, constatou-se que poucos são os trabalhos publicados a respeito do reflorestamento com essências nativas e com um longo período de observação. Dentre esses trabalhos, destacou-se um, no qual os autores recomendaram três espécies florestais como viáveis para reflorestamentos comerciais: Centrolobium tomentosum (araruva), Balfourodendron riedelianum (pau-marfim) e Araucaria angustifolia (pinheiro-brasileiro). Após recuperar as informações técnicas dos experimentos com essas essências nativas, realizou-se a análise de rentabilidade econômica de possíveis projetos, em condições deterministas e de risco. Concluiu-se que, do ponto de vista privado, os projetos de reflorestamento com essas essências nativas são viáveis economicamente. Diante desse cenário, sugerem-se novas linhas de pesquisa técnica capazes de gerar resultados que assegurem maior confiabilidade e ampliação na rentabilidade dos projetos de reflorestamento com essências nativas brasileiras. | This paper analyzes the economic profitability of native-tree reforestation for the production of sawlogs. The projects evaluated are experimental rather than commercial and are located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. These experimental plots were reforested with the native tree species Centrolobium tomentosum ("araruva"), Balforodendron riedelianum ("pau-marfim") and Araucaria angustifolia ("pinheiro-brasileiro"), recommended for their economic value by a previous evaluation of long-term native-tree reforestation. Economic profitability analyses were made under both deterministic and risk conditions using data from the reforestation experiments. It was found that all the experiments would be profitable. This paper concludes with the suggestion that new research needs to be conducted to improve the genetic material used for reforestation, as superior stock would increase productivity and promote consistent economic profitability.

O objetivo específico deste trabalho foi construir séries de investimento no setor agrícola para o período 1980-1998. Informação sobre tal fluxo nas duas últimas décadas existe somente para 1980, 1985 e 1995/96 (anos de Censo Agropecuário). A primeira série toma o valor do investimento no setor agrícola na Matriz de Insumo-Produto de 1980 como valor básico. Os valores para os anos seguintes são obtidos aplicando aos investimentos à mesma variação verificada no estoque de tratores nacionais de rodas. A segunda série tem o mesmo valor básico do caso anterior. Os valores para os anos seguintes são obtidos aplicando-se aos investimentos a mesma variação verificada nas vendas de tratores nacionais de rodas. Finalmente, uma terceira série toma como valores básicos de investimentos aqueles dos censos agropecuários. Variações nas vendas internas de tratores nacionais de rodas são aplicadas para obter os valores de investimentos para os demais anos. A despeito de suas limitações, acredita-se que a segunda e a terceira série são mais próximas da realidade, porque a variação nas vendas de tratores se mostrou a melhor proxy para as variações nos investimentos que as variações nos estoques de tratores e porque o comportamento das mesmas parece estar mais de acordo com o contexto econômico. | This article establishes an investment series for the Brazilian agriculture sector over the period from 1980 to 1998. Brazilian agriculture investment flow information for the last two decades is found in the Brazilian Agricultural Censuses of 1980, 1985, and 1995/96 only. The basic value for the 1st series of amounts invested was taken from the 1980 Brazilian Input-Output Matrix. Values for the following years were obtained by applying the variation found in the stock of wheel tractors to agriculture investments. The 2nd series commences with the same basic value as the 1st series while values for the following years were obtained by applying the variation found in domestic sales of Brazilian manufactured wheel tractors to investments. The 3rd series takes as its basic investment values those found in the three Agricultural Censuses while variations in the internal sales of nationally manufactured wheel tractors are again applied to obtain investment values for the other years. In spite of inherent limitations, the 2nd and 3rd series are closer to reality than the 1st series. Variation in tractor sales seems to be a better proxy for agricultural investment variation than variation in tractor stock. Further, the trend of the 2nd and 3rd series seems to fit better within the economic context then 1st series trend.