Transaction costs and their implications to formation of contractual arrangements: aspects of machinery contracting by family farmers in the centro-serra region of Rio Grande do Sul.

A mecanização da produção agrícola desempenha um importante e crescente papel no curso do desenvolvimento agrícola e rural. A mecanização oferece diversas melhorias potenciais nos sistemas de produção tais como o incremento da produtividade da terra e do trabalho, a redução dos riscos, e aumento da qualidade e segurança alimentar de produtos de origem animal e vegetal. Entretanto, os investimentos necessários para compra de máquinas, especialmente para pequenos produtores, podem não ser a opção de menor custo em comparação com a obtenção de serviços de mecanização por meio de diferentes arranjos contratuais. Para .. escolher a melhor forma de contratar serviços de mecanização é necessário avaliar tanto os . custos convencionais das máquinas quanto os custos de transação, O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi estimar a importância dos custos de transação na tomada de decisão sobre a seleção de arranjos contratuais alternativos para contratação de serviços de mecanização. Nossa hipótese era de. que os custos de transação podem ser maiores que os custos das máquinas, podendo, com isso, ser de cruclal Importância na seleção do tipo de arranjo contratual para contratar serviços de mecanização. Os dados empíricos de custos de máquinas e de transação foram coletados junto a agricultores familiares da Região Centro-Serra (RS), os quais contrataram serviços de colheita para milho de diferentes fornecedores formais e informais. Os resultados mostraram que os custos de transação podem ser mais elevados que os custos das máquinas e, com isso, influenciam de forma significativa a preferência agricultores familiares por determinado tipo de arranjo contratual para obtenção de serviços de mecanização. ABSTRACT - The mechanization of agricultural production plays an important and in course of time increasing role in the course of agricultural and rural development. Mechanization offers several potential improvements to farming systems such as increased land and labor productivity, reduction of risks, and increase of quality and food safety of animal and plant products. However, investments in own machinery, in particular for small holders, may not be the least-cost option in comparison with outsourcing the required machinery services through different contractual relationships. To choose the optimal contract for obtaining machinery services, it is necessary to evaluate conventional machinery costs as well as transaction costs. The main objective of this research was to assess the role of transaction costs in the choice among alternative contractual arrangements for provision of machinery services. Our hypothesis was that transaction costs can be higher than machinery costs, and therefore, they can play a leading role in the choice of contractual arrangements for provision of machinery services. The empirical data on conventional machinery and transaction costs were collected from farms in Southern Brazil that procure services for maize harvest through various informal and formal contractual forms. We found that transaction costs can be higher than conventional machinery costs, and therefore, influence the choice of contractual arrangement

Consumo aparente per capita de arroz no Brasil, 1991 a 2010.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar o consumo aparente per capita de arroz no Brasil de 1991 a 2010 e estabelecer sua relação com o consumo domiciliar per capita

Consumo per capita de feijão no Brasil de 1998 a 2010: uma comparação entre consumo aparente e consumo domiciliar.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar o consumo aparente per capita de feijão no Brasil de 1991 a 2010 e estabelecer sua relação com o consumo domiciliar per capita.CONAFE

Análise de distribuição de ganhos na cadeia produtiva do arroz no Estado de Goiás.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a distribuição de ganhos ao longo da cadeia produtiva do arroz. Por meio de um recorte vertical na cadeia é estabelecido o campo de análise: Produtor, Agroindústria, Mercado Varejista

Individual Differences and the Ergodicity Problem

Traditional research into individual differences (ID) in second language (L2) learning is based on group studies with the implicit assumption that findings can be generalized to the individual. In this article, we challenge this view. We argue that L2 learners do not form ergodic ensembles and that language learning data lack stability. The data from our experiment show that even highly similar learners in terms of ID show clearly different learning trajectories over time; however, we did find that those who showed the greatest degree of variability gained the most in proficiency. Such findings lead to the view that group studies and individual case studies are complementary. Group studies give us valuable information about the relative weight of individual factors that may play a role in L2 development, but longitudinal case studies are needed to understand the process of individual learners’ development

Dynamics of Language Learning Motivation and Emotions:A Parallel-Process Growth Mixture Modeling Approach

The present study adopted a novel parallel-process growth mixture modeling (GMM) technique to research the adaptive interaction between foreign language learners’ learning motivation and emotions, with a view to advancing our understanding of how language learning motivation and emotions (enjoyment and anxiety) adaptively interact with each other over time. The present study, situated in the Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learning context, collected learning motivation and emotion data from 176 Chinese EFL learners over a period of two semesters (12 months). The GMM technique adopted in the study identified three developmental profiles of motivation and two of emotions, respectively. The study further distilled salient patterns of motivation–emotion interaction over time, patterns significant for designing and implementing pedagogical interventions for motivation enhancement. The parallel-process GMM technique was also proven to be a useful approach to parsing learner variety and learning heterogeneity, efficiently summarizing the complex, dynamic processes of motivation and emotion development

Silica grain catalysis of methanol formation

The specific catalytic effect of a silica grain on the formation of methanol via the sequential addition of H atoms to CO adsorbed on the surface is investigated. A negatively charged defect on a siliceous edingtonite surface is found to reduce the gas phase barriers for the H + COads and H + H2C=O-ads reactions by 770 and 399 K, respectively, when compared to the same reactions in the gas phase. The catalytic effect of negatively charged surface sites could also be applicable to the hydrogenation of other adsorbed unsaturated species. However, the activation energies on the surface defect are still too large (1150 and 2230 K) for CH3OH to form efficiently at 10-20 K in the interstellar medium via a classical mechanism. It is therefore suggested that quantum mechanical tunnelling through the activation barrier is required for these hydrogen addition reactions to proceed at such temperatures. The calculations show that because the adsorption energies of CO and H2C=O on the negatively charged defect are substantial, CH3OH may form efficiently during the warm-up period in star-forming regions

Transaction costs in an association of organic farmers in Goiania, Brazil.

This study aimed to analyse the transaction costs of an association of organic farmers located in Goiania, Goias state, Brazil. We analysed the marketing and organisation relations based on data collected at the Association for the Development of Organic Farming in Goias state (ADAO/GO)

Sistema de cultivo e custo de produção de feijoeiro comum em Primavera do Leste (MT), na safra 2004/2005.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivos: (a) caracterizar o sistema de cultivo de feijoeiro comum praticado em Primavera do Leste (MT); e (b) estimar o custo de produção de feijoeiro comum deste sistema de cultivo na safra 2004/2005.bitstream/CNPAF/23590/1/comt_101.pd