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,

NKG2D and its ligands: key to immunotherapy of liver cancer?

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Determinantes dos arranjos contratuais: o caso da transação produtor-processador de carne bovina no Uruguai

Quais os determinantes da escolha do arranjo contratual nas transações entre produtores e processadores de carne bovina? A pergunta problema se insere no estudo dos mecanismos associados à coordenação da produção para dar respostas às preocupações dos consumidores. Observa-se a coexistência de arranjos contratuais nos sistemas produtivos de carne bovina, entre os quais a transação direta entre o pecuarista e o frigorífico, ou via intermediário especializado. A Economia dos Custos de Transação (ECT) pode ser utilizada para explicar a escolha dos arranjos contratuais observados, como resposta aos desafios de ganhos de eficiência "economizando" nos custos das transações. O presente estudo focaliza o sistema agroindustrial de carne bovina uruguaio, sendo estruturado em três partes. Primeiro a análise do histórico das relações entre produtores e processadores, e mudanças do ambiente institucional. A seguir, a partir das dimensões da transação (freqüência, especificidade de ativo e incerteza) geram-se hipóteses a respeito dos determinantes da escolha dos arranjos contratuais. Finalmente as hipóteses são testadas a partir de um modelo logit. Utiliza-se um painel de dados com a totalidade de transações realizadas entre produtores e processadores fornecidos pelo Ministério de Agricultura do Uruguai (77.000 transações). Os resultados validam estatisticamente as hipóteses levantadas a respeito dos determinantes da escolha do arranjo contratual entre produtores e processadores. Uma transação tem maior probabilidade de se alinhar com o arranjo contratual direto (mais coordenado) quanto maior o grau de ativos específicos envolvidos no produto, quanto menor a distância entre o produtor e o processador e quanto maior a freqüência de transações entre as partes envolvidas, corroborando a teoria de ECT.What are the determinants of the commercial channel choice in the beef producers-processors transactions? The question refers to the coordination and production control problem associated to changes in consumer's awareness of specific attributes in food products. Two contractual arrangements coexist in this transaction: direct-contracting and broker-induced transactions Transaction Cost Economic offers helpful insights to understand the reason for the development and adaptations of different contractual arrangement moved by transaction cost economizing perspective. The empirical analysis is focused in the Uruguayan beef agro-industrial system. Analysis integrates (i) institutional and organizational changes in the beef industry; (ii) based on the analysis of the transaction dimensions (frequency, asset specificity and uncertainty) we address hypothesis of the determinants of the contractual arrangement in the beef producers-processors transaction; and (iii) we run a statistical test of the hypotheses based on a logit model. We used a panel data with producers-processors transaction from Uruguayan Agricultural Bureau (77,000 transactions). We confirm the hypotheses of the determinants of the contractual arrangement choice. The probability of a transaction being aligned with the direct contractual arrangement increase in transaction with higher asset specificity (i.e., young steer), lower distance between the producer and the processor, and with higher frequency of transaction.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES

External equity financing of agrifood firms

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 30, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Peter G. KleinVita.Ph.D. University of Missouri-Columbia, 2011"December 2011"This dissertation investigates the determinants that influence a firm's decision to use external private equity in agriculture. Scholars have recognized the benefits of external equity finance for agricultural firms (i.e., capital derived from a source other than retained earnings and existing owners) and the use of external equity in agriculture has increased since 1990. This is important because this source of capital allows farms to exploit business opportunity, particularly for companies that pose risks that discourage debt capital, and because private equity has fostered entrepreneurial activity. However, the literature addressing this phenomenon is limited. The asset specificity approach (Williamson 1988) offers insightful contributions to understand the choice of financial mechanisms. This approach brings additional insights and complements agency -- the dominant perspective in finance. The analysis focuses on the differential redeployability of the assets involved in the production of different agricultural product. I construct an international dataset of agricultural companies that receive external private equity finance to test hypotheses about the determinants of using external equity finance. Results show that the attributes of the assets involved in agriculture are important factors to explain financing choices in agriculture. This research contributes to the understanding of the role of asset specificity to explain financing decisions and to the identification of what types of asset specificity play an important role in agriculture.Includes bibliographical reference

Determinantes dos arranjos contratuais1: O caso da transação produtor-processador de carne bovina no Uruguai

What are the determinants of the commercial channel choice in the beef producers-processors transactions? The question refers to the coordination and production control problem associated to changes in consumer’s awareness of specific attributes in food products. Two contractual arrangements coexist in this transaction: direct-contracting and broker-induced transactions Transaction Cost Economic offers helpful insights to understand the reason for the development and adaptations of different contractual arrangement moved by transaction cost economizing perspective. The empirical analysis is focused in the Uruguayan beef agro-industrial system. Analysis integrates (i) institutional and organizational changes in the beef industry; (ii) based on the analysis of the transaction dimensions (frequency, asset specificity and uncertainty) we address hypothesis of the determinants of the contractual arrangement in the beef producers-processors transaction; and (iii) we run a statistical test of the hypotheses based on a logit model. We used a panel data with producers-processors transaction from Uruguayan Agricultural Bureau (77,000 transactions). We confirm the hypotheses of the determinants of the contractual arrangement choice. The probability of a transaction being aligned with the direct contractual arrangement increase in transaction with higher asset specificity (i.e., young steer), lower distance between the producer and the processor, and with higher frequency of transaction.Vertical Coordination, Beef System, Contractual arrangement, Transaction Cost Economics, Agribusiness, D23, L14, Q13,

Albert Geerts One of the "young boys"

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Foreword

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Reply to: "Flow cytometry makes all the difference".

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hbv genotype must be included in treatment algorithm

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