CHALLENGES FOR BRAZIL'S FOOD INDUSTRY IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION AND MERCOSUR CONSOLIDATION

This paper examines how the Brazilian food industry has been heavily affected by several recent institutional and economic changes. The food industry, including the processing and retail sectors, is part of a broader agribusiness system that conditions corporationsÂ’ strategies, performance, and adoption of adequate governance structures. The Brazilian agroindustrialization process that preceded the formation of the sub-regional free-trade area (Mercosur) and economic liberalization influenced subsequent development of the agribusiness and food system in the Mercosur countries and their investment and trade links to countries outside Mercosur. The article emphasizes business strategies for coping with challenges and opportunities that have arisen from Mercosur integration, from economic stabilization programs and, more importantly, from a broad range of institutional changes such as trade liberalization, deregulation, and the friendlier treatment of foreign capital. These changes have together fostered the globalization process in the region and have stimulated different responses from large and small firms, all threatened by the new, competitive environment.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

CARBON MARKET: BUSINESS INCENTIVES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

The Protocol resulting from the 1997 Conference of Parties in Kyoto finally set emission caps for several developed countries and introduced the possibility of market creation mechanisms on carbon emission trading. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was then created for emission trading between countries with caps and those with no caps. The CDM market will pursue the opportunities for lowest costs on carbon reductions available in each country with no emission target, as is the case of Brazil. The positive differentials of Brazil will only be realized if there is, mainly in national terms, a favorable atmosphere to the development of new business and the proper importance to the environmental commitments of reduction of the greenhouse effect. The excess of bureaucracy and governmental controls added to the lack of a policy and of a clear institutional guidance of support to the consistent initiatives of CDM projects. They are decisive obstacles for the achievement of the potentialities and for a good position of Brazil in the trade of CERs. Making use of the teachings of Nobel Prize Ronald Coase, this paper has as a goal to show the necessary institutional conditions for Brail to make use of the development from this market.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Desregulamentação e o controle do abuso do poder econômico: teoria e prática

Resumo A desregulamentação e o renascimento da aplicação antitruste são duas tendências recentes em países desenvolvidos e também no terceiro mundo. À primeira vista, eles parecem inconsistentes, já que a desregulamentação enfatiza a organização do mercado livre, enquanto a política antitruste limita as estratégias de negócios privados. Este artigo discute as razões econômicas para a regulamentação e fiscalização antitruste e a relação entre as políticas industriais e anti \truste. Alguns exemplos históricos são trazidos à discussão, incluindo a experiência brasileira

Market Structure and Competition in Food Retail: Some Evidences from Brazil

The paper analyzes competition among supermarkets in Brazil. In contrast to part of the economic literature which suggests that the fast growth of big supermarket chains would destroy independent, medium and small supermarkets, the paper argues that big supermarket chains can coexist with different formats of independent food retailing. As a result, competition in food retail is complex and cannot be described as a simple Darwinian process of market concentration. The analysis is divided in two parts. In the first part, the competition between hypermarkets and supermarkets is examined. Evidences for the district of Sao Paulo, Brazil, suggest that these retailers form separate markets. The second part is focused on neighborhood supermarkets. The results differ from the general belief that independent supermarkets establish higher prices in comparison to big chain supermarkets. The analysis brings to light the heterogeneity of the competitive fringe in the oligopoly model of Brazilian retailing.Food retail, Supermarkets, Differentiation, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

A teoria dos mercados contestáveis e a teoria da organização industrial: um artigo-resenha

A Teoria da Contestabilidade (TMC) tem se disseminado rapidamente pela literatura econômica acadêmica desde a publicação do livro de Baumol, Panzar e Willig, em 1982. Apesar desta crescente importância, a TMC ainda não foi Introduzida nos cursos de graduação em Economia no Brasil, em virtude da ausência de textos introdutórios adequados e escritos em português. Este artigo fornece as principais idéias e conceitos básicos da teoria dos mercados contestáveis. A medida que tal teoria resultou do desenvolvimento dos conceitos de custo multiproduto, parte do artigo destina-se a apresentá-los. Apresenta-se, também, uma resenha das principais críticas colocadas pelos microeconomistas e peios adeptos da Organização Industrial (Ol). Baumol afirma que a TMC aspira fornecer nada menos do que uma teoria unificadora para a análise da organização industrial. Sendo assim, apresenla-se uma breve discussão sobre a relaçãoentre a TMC e a Ol. Palavras-chave: contestabilidade, custos e tecnologia multiproduto, economias de escopo, economias de escala, custos irrecuperáveis.Contestability Theory (CT) has been entering the academic literature very strongly since the book of Baumol, Panzar and Willig was published in 1982. Despite its increasing importance, Brazilian students of Economics have not ye| been introduced to this approach, certainly because we do not have suitable texts Portuguese. This paper provides the main ideas and basic concepts of the theory of contestable markets. As this theory evolved from the multiproduct co^t function concepts, we had to use part of the paper to set them up. The paper also presents a survey on the main criticism raised either by the Microeconomics theorists or by the Industrial Organization (IO) lovers. Baumol asserts that the Contestability Theory aspires to provide no less than an unifying theory for the analysis of industrial organization. So we present some discussion about the relationship between CT and IO

Scale, Scope, and Specialization Effects on Retailers’ Procurement Strategies: Evidence from the Fresh Produce Markets of São Paulo

Worldwide, the emergence of large supermarket chains in food retail markets is often associated with the marginalization of smaller retailers. A notable exception exists in Brazil, however, where small retailers have held their place in the market and recently even gained ground. The literature investigating how retail concentration has affected agrifood chains has focused activities of the largest retail chains, implicitly holding the scale, scope and specialization of retailers’ input needs constant, and overlooking the influence of these factors on retailers’ procurement strategies. This paper tests hypotheses regarding these variables’ effects on retailers’ fresh produce procurement strategies. Data is drawn from a survey of retailers in metropolitan São Paulo. The research results provide insight into factors underlying retailers’ procurement strategy choices and tradeoffs among options. The results support the fundamental hypothesis of the paper that research on the competitive strategies of smaller retailers in a context of market domination by large retailers should not focus exclusively on the degree to which the smaller retailers imitate the larger retailers rather it should account for the possibility that the underlying characteristics of the retailers may make diverse competitive strategies appropriate.scale, scope, specialization, procurement strategy, fresh produce, retail, Political Economy, L22,

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND THE BRAZILIAN FOOD INDUSTRY IN THE 90S

This work investigates the increased share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Brazilian food industry. In addition to conferring on Brazil the important role of attracting FDI to Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), this flow of investment has caused importance changes in the Brazilian industrial organization. Increases in competition, new strategies and changes in the number of employees in the industry are a few of the more remarkable results. The main objective of this work is to investigate the reasons of entry, encountered mainly in the characteristics of the Brazilian market, and the impacts on the local industry, and to signal the long-run effects of these recent changes.Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

CHALLENGES FOR BRAZIL'S FOOD INDUSTRY IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION AND MERCOSUR CONSOLIDATION

This paper examines how the Brazilian food industry has been heavily affected by several recent institutional and economic changes. The food industry, including the processing and retail sectors, is part of a broader agribusiness system that conditions corporations' strategies, performance, and adoption of adequate governance structures. The Brazilian agroindustrialization process that preceded the formation of the sub-regional free-trade area (Mercosur) and economic liberalization influenced subsequent development of the agribusiness and food system in the Mercosur countries and their investment and trade links to countries outside Mercosur. The article emphasizes business strategies for coping with challenges and opportunities that have arisen from Mercosur integration, from economic stabilization programs and, more importantly, from a broad range of institutional changes such as trade liberalization, deregulation, and the friendlier treatment of foreign capital. These changes have together fostered the globalization process in the region and have stimulated different responses from large and small firms, all threatened by the new, competitive environment

A regulamentação do mercado de leite e laticinios no Brasil

Tese (doutorado) Faculdade de Economia e Administração, US