Formas plurais de governança no complexo agroindustrial citrícola: análise dos produtores de laranja da microrregião de Bebedouro/SP

Abstract

The citrus agroindustrial complex, that has the most of the citrus agroindustrial production in the state of São Paulo, constitutes a very interesting example of the interaction of different forms of governance. The very same producer manages his orange sales to the market agents in different ways: according to organizational theory this situation is called plural forms or contractual mix. On sales to buyers that will sell the fruit for in natura consumption the producer generally deals in terms of spot market. On the other hand, contracts are predominant in transactions with the juice-processing industry. The producer can also lease part of the unused capacity of an industry in order to process his own fruit and sell it straight to the market (quasi-integration) or integrate the sale of the in natura fruit becoming the owner of packing houses (hierarchy). This work aims to identify the reasons that lead orange planters to sell their product to different buyers employing different governances. We chose the Bebedouro microregion to carry out this work due to the fact that it is one of the most traditional in the state of São Paulo as well as in the context of the Brazilian agroindustrial citrus complex. The search for explanations for the occurrence of plural forms goes against, in principle, the assumption of predominance of the most efficient form in transaction costs, according to New Institutional Economic. Therefore, this is the theoretical foundation for this study, which has been complemented by authors of Economics of Organizations, who explain the coexistence of diverse arrangements within a same firm in franchising, agroindustrial systems and in distribution channels. One of the conclusions on the determinants of plural forms in the case of Brazilian citrus growing is linked to the fact that buyers from distinct channels of distribution (quantity, quality, fruit variety, location, etc) have specific needs, which generate restrictions that make the choice for multiple channels and forms of governance the only available for many producers. Nevertheless, the main conclusion is that the attributes of the transaction are the key factors to explain the occurrence of plural forms, i. e., it is the fact that transactions between producers and buyers are different in at least one attribute (specificity of assets, frequency or uncertainty) that explains the adoption of different forms of coordination.