Determinantes da informalidade no sistema agroindustrial do leite na região de São Carlos / SP
Resumen
Informality in Brazilian milk market is high and involves social and
economical problems. This thesis aims to identify potential determinants of informal milk and
cheese trade in the region of São Carlos /SP. It presents a descriptive statistical analysis for a
set of social-economical and transactional indicators comparing two groups of rural
producers: one of predominantly formal producers and another with producers highly inserted
in the informal market. Moreover, transaction costs between rural producers and downstream
agents in the milk chain are measured and analyzed. It is also presented institutional and
organizational environments characteristics that motivate rural producer participation in the
informal market and/or hinder their access to formal market.
As theoretical support, it has been considered the theories of New Institutional
Economics (NIE) and Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), as well as theories regarding
illegal markets. Also, it has been used secondary data and literature review on milk
agribusiness system. Besides that, 125 rural milk producers in the region of São Carlos/SP
have been interviewed and key-agents, inserted in the regional milk agribusiness system, have
provided qualitative information.
It has been concluded that informality in milk market in that region is mainly
due to farmers strategy of achieving better prices. Such strategy is taken either when
producers trade exclusively in the informal market, or when producers trade simultaneously in
formal and informal markets, thus working with a price mix. Informality is also determined
by elements of informal and formal institutional environments (e.g. cultural aspects and weak
enforcement mechanisms of formal fiscalization system). The measurement of transaction
costs between rural producers and downstream agents has shown they are low and little
representative, which indicates that such costs are not determinants of milk informality in the
region. Besides that, most indicators analyzed have not been considered barriers to access
formal market. Finally, it has been verified that informality is not restricted to rural producers
on the margins of legal system, such as those infringing sanitary laws; instead, informality is
also carried out by producers inserted in the formal market too.