The restructuring of the Brazilian cotton sector: economic, institutional, and technological factors / A reestruturação da cotonicultura no Brasil: fatores econômicos, institucionais e tecnológicos

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

Brazilian cotton prices have been decreasing since the 1970s. Even after the restructuring of the sector, in 1990s, cotton production has been increasing in a great pace. This paper argues that this performance is directly related to technological (supply) and marketing (demand) factors. Entrepreneurial and management abilities were essential to Brazilian growers take opportunities and overcome obstacles. That is why the cotton production has reached the current standard of productivity. The sector has been reorganized, turning into a ?cottonculture business?, with plant activities both in large extensions, as well as capitalized and hi-tech systems. At the same time, from 1990s, it was noted a process of institutional redefinition. Due to scarcity of federal resources starting in 1980s, private companies have also started to invest in cotton research. The result was a big improvement of productivity assisted by increasing exports, which was crucial to support prices. An economic model was developed to measure the growth of the sector in terms of supply and demand disturbances, considering the ideas used by Blanchard and Quah (1989), which were adapted to the agricultural sector by Barros, Spolador, and Bacchi (2006). Analysis of Vector Autoregression ?VAR was applied to data of the national income (Gross Domestic Product ? GDP), the cotton exported volume, the agricultural productivity of cotton, the harvested cotton area, the cotton production, and the price received by growers in the domestic market. The paper concluded that the cotton harvested area showed progress manifested by an Auto Regression (AR) process. Apparently, defined economic and general technological conditions, the area of the culture starts to follow a process of rise or reduction in direction of the desired value that can take one decade or more. However, around 30 percent of the cotton production?s growth in Brazil was related to technical productivity. Another 15 percent of the rise of the production can be attributed to prices? changes. Almost a quarter of development of cotton export can be explained by the productivity. Between 35 and 40 percent is linked to production alterations, not directly linked to productivity and prices. To summarize, the development of Brazilian cotton culture can be associated with supply-side disturbances.

ASSUNTO(S)

algodão (brasil) oferta e demanda agribusiness cotton (brazil) crop production supply and demand produção agrícola agronegócio

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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