Inside the Black Box: Partnerships in Rio de Janeiro, 1870-1891

We use newly-constructed individual-level data on partnership contracts in late nineteenth century Rio de Janeiro to examine differences between limited and unlimited liability firms and partners, and to assess the impact of a major institutional reform that facilitated the formation of joint stock companies on the terms of partnership contracts. Contrary to expectation, we find that most unlimited partners contributed capital and received profit shares, and most non-managing limited partners received salaries. Limited partners contributed more capital and received lower salaries and profit shares than their unlimited partners; unlimited partners in limited firms received more favorable terms than those in unlimited firms. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that the reforms reduced the extent of income smoothing for the limited partner and increased the average quality of unlimited liability partners in limited liability firms. These findings highlight the role of incentives and the desire for income smoothing in shaping contract terms.Partnerships, Brazil

Ejidos, Urbanization, and the Production of Inequality in Formerly Agricultural Lands, Guadalajara, Mexico, 1975–2020

The ejido is an institution of communal land tenure and governance administered by the Mexican government. This paper assesses the current visual appearance of landscapes and implicit land use in ejidal lands on the periphery of Guadalajara, Mexico, using Google Street View (GSV) images tagged for signs of urban distress. Distressed landscapes are associated with the temporal process of urban expansion—newer settlements tend to be more visibly impoverished. Concentrations of vulnerable housing are correlated with encroached-upon ejidal lands in a process that was underway by the 1970s, well before Mexico’s neoliberal turn. Ejidos on the urban periphery, created to support agricultural communities during Mexico’s radical period of agrarian reform, are now sites of urban sprawl and impoverishment. Nevertheless, these communities remain legally salient as federal entities with respect to the disposition of land. Their presence complicates the historical evolution of land use in the urban periphery in ways that do not fit into classical central place models. We conclude that the presence of ejidos is associated with rapid and chaotic urbanization by migrants and the loss of agricultural capacity in Guadalajara’s periphery

Vinhos de Altitude no Estado de Santa Catarina: a firmação de uma identidade

No presente artigo será abordada a história recente da vitivinicultura no estado de Santa Catarina - Brasil, discutindo os territórios que trabalham com os, assim denominados, “Vinhos de Altitude”. Mostraremos que a vitivinicultura não pode mais ser percebida de forma idílica, como uma empresa de pequenos agricultores rurais. Atualmente, a produção de vinhos é vista como uma importante commodity, em que a conquista de prêmios em competições nacionais e internacionais abre os mercados para consumidores nacionais e internacionais. O estabelecimento de vinícolas com alto padrão de qualidade, visando as camadas sociais mais altas, tem crescido nos últimos anos.Palavras-chave: História Ambiental. Vinhos de Altitude. Commodity