UNICA: Challenges to Deliver Sustainability in the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry

Teaching Notes Available: [email protected] Author video introduction: http://www.youtube.com/user/ifamr1#p/u/7/4kZDvS7v5NAsustainability, biofuels, ethanol, industry association, teaching case, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Strategic Alliances in the U.S. Beef Supply Chain

This study analyzes vertical-coordination practices in the U.S. beef supply chain focusing on strategic alliances. We present results from a survey of beef alliances describing their organizational structure, the nature of participantsÂ’' involvement, contractual requirements, information-sharing practices, services offered to alliance participants, and marketing strategies. Survey results provide a detailed description of 13 beef alliances and are intended to inform potential participants about vertical-coordination alternatives. In addition, the study provides relevant information for future economic research on the formation, organization, and functioning of beef alliances.Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Interview with AUC graduate Tamer Sergany on life after AUC

Interview with AUC graduate Tamer Sergany on life after AU

ACCESS TO CAPITAL AND FIRM-LEVEL INVESTMENT BEHAVIOR IN FOOD INDUSTRIES: A COMPARISON OF COOPERATIVES AND PUBLICLY TRADED FIRMS

This paper compares investment behavior of agricultural cooperatives and publicly traded firms in the food industry. The importance of financial constraints is examined by exploring whether ownership structure affects investment sensitivity to cash flow using a panel data approach based on the Q-theory of investment.Agribusiness,

Putting Theories of the Firm in Their Place: A Supplemental Digest of the New Institutional Economics

Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

TESTING FOR THE PRESENCE OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS IN U.S.

It is commonly argued in the literature that agricultural cooperatives are financially constrained because they are unable to acquire sufficient risk capital to invest in productive assets. This study examines whether agricultural cooperatives' investment is constrained by estimating neoclassical and cash flow augmented Q investment models. Panel data regression results suggest that cooperative physical capital investment responds positively and significantly to both the marginal profitability of capital and cash flow. Results also indicate that all cooperative sub-samples face binding financial constraints when making investment decisions, but some cooperatives appear to be less financially constrained than others. The empirical analysis of the cooperative financial constraint hypothesis suggests that eliminating restrictions on residual claims might be a necessary condition for the attenuation of capital constraints in agricultural cooperatives.Agribusiness,

The Emergence of Non-Traditional Cooperative Structures: Public and Private Policy Issues

This paper examines new agricultural cooperative organizational models from an ownership rights perspective. We argue that new cooperative organizational models differ in the way ownership rights are assigned to the economic agents tied contractually to the firm � members, patrons, and investors. The paper proposes a typology of discrete organizational models, in which the traditional cooperative structure and the investor-oriented firm are characterized as polar forms. Five non-traditional models are described and analyzed with implications to both private and public policy.agricultural cooperatives, cooperative finance, ownership structure, property rights., Agribusiness,

Sources of Firm Performance Differences in the U.S. Food Economy: Exploring Specific Industry, Corporate and Business Segment Effects on Agribusiness Firm Profitability

Health Economics and Policy,

Redesigning the Food Chain: Trade, Investment and Strategic Alliances in the Orange Juice Industry

Change in trade barriers and capital flow creates opportunities for redesigning the food chain. The orange juice chain in U.S. and Brazil provides an interesting illustration of how institutional harmonization, high import tariff rates and complementary capabilities open new opportunities for strategic alliances and the re-arrangement in the FCOJ chain. This finding has the following implications. First, trade barriers are not enough to support FDI and related internationalization decisions. Second, the perspective of market integration creates a positive environment for new strategic alliances and the re-design of the food chain. And third, the existence of complementary capabilities between foreign and domestic companies is a necessary condition for this type of supply chain re-arrangement.FTAA, foreign direct investment, Orange Juice Industry, strategic alliances, Agribusiness,