Adelson Martins Figueiredo

Poder de mercado no varejo alimentar: uma análise usando os preços do estado de São Paulo

The Brazilian retail sector has gone through expressive structural transformations since the 90s decade. Despite the high level of concentration, the retail sector has presented evidences of strong rivalry among the top firms. This research aimed to analize the impact of market concentration on the use of market power for specific agricultural products, through time series analysis of agricultural prices referring to the Sao Paulo state. The empirical results indicated that the use of market power differs from product to product, what suggests that retailers have been adopting specific strategies according to the characteristics of products demand. The analysis of price asymmetry showed that retailers tend to delay the transmission of price decreases and transmit price increases more rapidly. Moreover, results indicate that the increase in rivalry in the current decade has made it more difficult for retailers to use their market power manipulating prices. In general, retailers were able to transmit price increases more intensely before the year 2000, when the turnover level was lower and restricted to the small and middle size firms.

Análise das Margens e Transmissão de Preços no Sistema Agroindustrial do Suco de Laranja no Brasil

Trades between orange growers and orange juice processing companies in Brazil have been characterized by conflicts, culminating in accusations of breach of contracts and cases of anti-trust violations in the Council for Economic Defense (Cade). Recently, attempts to create a council, called Consecitrus, have failed, evidencing that conflicts remain. Due to the evident fragility of the transactions between these agents, the aim of this study is to investigate whether there is indication of market power use by the processing companies in their dealings with growers. For this, the evolution of gross margins and price transmission are analyzed. The analysis of the margins revealed that the gains achieved by processors are significantly higher when the revenue obtained with the sale of byproducts is added to the juice revenue. It was found that the margins are underestimated when considering only the leading products in its calculation. The analysis of price transmission showed that processing companies transfer price decreases for growers in the short-term and an asymmetry in the long-run. Therefore, there is an evidence of the market power use by orange juice processing companies, and this practice can generate cumulative losses for growers, since there is an asymmetry in the long-term with less than proportional price recovery.

Barreiras às novas formas de coordenação no agrossistema do caju na região nordeste, Brasil

Although the Brazilian production of cashew nuts has increased in the years 2000, its international market-share has decreased revealing competitiveness loss of this agri-system. Agricultural yields are low and a traditional governance structure among farmers, intermediaries, and cashew nut processing industries still subsists. New coordination forms have been tested, but they have not been able to substitute the old one. The objective of this article is the identification of barriers to the changes of this structure. The Economy of Transaction Cost is the theoretical approach adopted. For empirical investigation, a rapid appraisal method was adopted comprising interviews with stakeholders in the states of Ceara, Piaui, and Rio Grande do Norte. The results showed that resilience is remarkable in the old structure, which is underpinned in the functionality and capacity of reaction of intermediaries. Therefore, the cautious strategy adopted by the cashew nut processing industries is, on one hand, rational in the face of uncertainties, and, on the other hand, slow in the face of the international market changes. Resumo: Embora a producao brasileira de amendoa de castanha-de-caju tenha crescido nos anos 2000, sua participacao no mercado internacional reduziu-se, revelando perda de competitividade desse agrossistema. A produtividade na producao rural e baixa e subsiste uma antiquada estrutura de governanca das relacoes entre produtores, intermediarios e processadores de castanha em casca. Novas formas de coordenacao estao sendo testadas, mas ainda nao foram capazes de substituir a antiga. O objetivo desse artigo e identificar o conjunto de barreiras a transformacao dessa estrutura. O referencial teorico adotado encontra-se fundamentalmente na Economia de Custos de Transacao. Para investigacao empirica, adotou-se o metodo de pesquisa rapida (rapid appraisal), compreendendo entrevistas junto a uma amostra nao probabilistica de agentes da cadeia nos estados do Ceara, Piaui e Rio Grande do Norte. Os resultados mostram que ha resiliencia da estrutura de governanca antiga, a qual esta assentada na funcionalidade e capacidade de reacao dos intermediarios. Assim, a estrategia de mudanca cautelosa das empresas processadoras e, por um lado, racional diante de grandes incertezas, e, por outro, lenta diante das transformacoes do mercado internacional. Palavras-chave: Sistemas agroindustriais. Coordenacao. Castanha de caju. Brasil.

Impactos dos subsídios agrícolas dos Estados Unidos na expansão do agronegócio brasileiro

In the forums of multilateral negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) there has been a strong debate which tries to eliminate the agricultural subventions in the developed countries. However, the United States has increased the amount of these subsidies causing distortions in the world agricultural trade. Therefore, the purpose of this research has been to evaluate these American subsidies impacts (Loan Deficiency Payments) given between 2002 and 2007 upon the Brazilian agribusiness growth. The findings allow to deduce that the reduction of the subsidies in the United States might promote the growth of the Brazilian agribusiness production and might produce trade surplus in the trade balance in this sector as well as the growth of both exports and imports. Hence the cuts in these subsidies would contribute to a bigger competitiveness of the Brazilian exports and would generate opportunities to the agribusiness growth.

ANÁLISE DA POSSIBILIDADE DE RIVALIDADE NO MERCADO BANCÁRIO BRASILEIRO ENTRE 2000-2012

The global financial crisis of 2008 changed the architecture of the Brazilian banking sector through large mergers and acquisitions, which have provided an increase of the market concentration. This change causes concern about the levels of competition in the sector. The methodology discussed involves analysis of the market shares taken over by five largest banks and its oscillation. So it associates, using unit root procedures, the instability of time series of market share to the possibility of rivalry and of exercise of market power. The results indicated that in the total deposit market there is possible rivalry for the studied banks, which it reduces the possibility of the exercise of market power due to increased concentration.

Assimetria na Transmissão de Preços e Poder de Mercado: o caso do mercado varejista de etanol no estado de São Paulo

The presence of market power in fuel retailing has been a major concern in Brazil, motivating antitrust investigations as well as economic research. However, lack of appropriate data precludes the estimation of straight market power indicators, leaving the possibility of using price series to identify market power. The objective of this study is to identify the presence of market power at the retail of fuel ethanol in cities of different sizes. The method adopted consists in verifying if price increases and decreases are transmitted asymmetrically to consumers, assuming that more intense transmission of price increases is related to the presence of market power. Monthly wholesale and retail price series of ethanol for cities with different sizes located in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, were used. The results indicate the presence of market power, since retailers were able to transmit price increases more rapidly and more intensively than price decreases for most cities. Such results suggest that asymmetry in price transmission can be a useful analytical tool to investigate market power and that antitrust authorities must observe the retail concentration and the behavior in the fuel market in order to protect consumers.