Competição entre bolsas de futuros: o caso da BM&F e da CSCE no mercado de café

This study discusses the competition between futures exchanges as evaluated by their users, in particular hedgers, choosing alternative contracts based on costs and benefits of hedging. Focusing on Brazilian hedgers, two alternative exchanges supplying coffee futures contracts are evaluated: the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE), and the Brazilian Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&F), the latter with contracts more specifically designed to the physical, temporal and locational characteristics of the Brazilian coffee. Results suggest that liquidity is the most important factor influencing the negotiation of contracts on the CSCE market by Brazilian traders, even though there is evidence that hedging effectiveness tends to be higher for the BM&Fcontract. An analysis ofthe future price bias ("risk premium") embodied in the contracts did not allow us to reject the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the exchanges with regard to this aspect. Institutional and dynamic issues are also briefly discussed

Building organic strategies: actions to promote organic agriculture in São Paulo, Brazil

Authors show recent evolution and future trends in organic food in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Using the netchain approach, a Workshop was carried out in order to update the last ten years of achievements, build bridges among different actors, sectors and strategies, besides defining specific guidelines to NGOs, private and public sectors regarding the development of organic agriculture in the state

Um Estudo da Contribuição da Agricultura Multifuncional para o Desenvolvimento Rural Sustentável

This paper purports to discuss how the multifunctionality of agriculture - which is a view of agriculture as an activity that is not only economic but also environmental, social and cultural - could be incorporated in public and private strategies in order to achieve a rural sustainable development and a bigger income to the farmer. Therefore, the research problem is how the integration of the concept would be a strategy to meet the needs of fibre, energy and food production while maintaining sustainability in agriculture. At first a bibliography research was carried out, approaching the concepts of multifuncionality of agriculture and positive externalities; subsequently an empirical research was done, through a case study whose aim was to replicate a method to access the multifuncionality of agriculture in the city of Cunha (SP). The multifunctional agriculture generates positive externalities but, generally, the farmer is not paid for the social benefits of its production. For that reason, metrics are needed to assess the impact generated by the multifunctional agriculture so the farmer gets paid for the social services that arises from its production. As soon as the farmer gets paid for the positive outcome he/she is generating, we will get an agricultural model that is more aligned to rural sustainable development.O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir como o conceito de multifuncionalidade da agricultura, que é a abordagem da agricultura como uma atividade não apenas econômica, mas também ambiental, social e cultural, poderia ser incorporado nas estratégias públicas e privadas, visando o desenvolvimento rural sustentável e o aumento de renda do produtor. Nesse sentido, o problema desta pesquisa é investigar como a incorporação do conceito de multifuncionalidade poderia ser uma estratégia para manter a sustentabilidade na agricultura. Inicialmente, foi feita uma pesquisa bibliográfica, abordando os conceitos de agricultura multifuncional e externalidade positivas; subsequentemente, foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica, por meio de um estudo de caso que buscava replicar uma metodologia de mensuração da multifuncionaldade da atividade agrícola no município de Cunha (SP). A agricultura de caráter multifuncional gera externalidades positivas, sem que o agente gerador seja remunerado. Assim, são necessárias métricas de mensuração de impacto gerado pela produção multifuncional para que o agricultor seja remunerado pelas externalidades positivas que está gerando, incentivando, dessa forma, um modelo de agricultura mais alinhado ao desenvolvimento rural sustentável.Este trabajo tiene como objetivo discutir el concepto multifuncional de la agricultura, que es el enfoque de la agricultura no sólo como una actividad económica, sino también ambiental , social y cultural , podría incorporarse en las estrategias públicas y privadas , cuyo objetivo es el desarrollo sostenible rural y un mayor ingreso agregado al productor. En este sentido , el problema de esta investigación es analizar cómo la incorporación del concepto multifuncional podría ser una estrategia para mantener la sostenibilidad de la agricultura. Inicialmente se realizó una búsqueda en la bibliografía, abordando los conceptos de agricultura multifuncional y externalidad positiva; Posteriormente se realizó una investigación empírica a través de un estudio de caso que trató de replicar una metodología para medir la multifuncionaldad de la actividad agrícola en la ciudad de Cunha (SP). El carácter multifuncional de la agricultura genera externalidades positivas sin que los siervos generados sean pagos. Por lo tanto , se requiere de indicadores para medir el impacto generado por la producción multifuncional para que el agricultor sea cobrado por las externalidades positivas que esta generando, fomentando así un modelo de agricultura más sostenible al desarrollo rural

Governance structure and transaction cost: relationship between strategy and asset specificity

This article presents a theoretical discussion of the determining factors of governance structures, using the transaction cost approach. The coexistence of distinct structures in the same production chain, whose assets show no difference in terms of specificity, is a problematic challenge for transaction cost economics, since it predicts a convergence towards the most efficient structures. The research is pure and explanatory and seeks to identify the determining or contributing variables to the occurrence of the phenomena. Thus, the research source is documental, encompassing the literature discussing the relation between governance structure and transaction cost

Strategic Alliances and Sustainable Coffee Production: The Shaded System of Baturite, State of Ceara, Brazil

The study aims to assess the entry of coffee producers into the specialty coffee segment that is differentiated by social and environmental attributes. It shows the experience of shaded coffee growers participating in the Projeto Café Ecológico, placed in the Baturité Mountains Environmental Protection Area, an Atlantic Forest region in Ceará State, Brazil. Emphasis is placed on horizontal and vertical strategic alliances among actors involved in the production, processing and distribution of ecological coffee. It highlights the articulation between government and NGOs, under both contractual and institutional approaches