As cafeiculturas do Cerrado Mineiro e do Sul de Minas no escopo das singularidades institucionais

Abstract

In recent years, the New Institutional Economics (NIE) has been shown as an important theoretical approach to understanding the differences in the economic development of countries and regions. The main focus of this theory is that institutions matter and are amenable to analysis. In this sense, the role of institutions is put in focus to determine the causes for the growth or not of a given locality. Institutions consist of the general rules that guide human interactions. They can be formal, like laws, regulations, and constitution, or informal, such as culture, habits, and values. Given the possibility of the NIE to understand the differences between two localities, this theoretical framework was used to determine the aspects that differ the CerradoMineiro and the Sul de Minas in coffee cultivation. The two regions are recognized as important for coffee growing in Minas Gerais and have divergent profiles in relation to the conduction of the activity. Thus, the general objective of the study is to verify the differences in the institutional environment of coffee cultivation in the CerradoMineiro and Sul de Minas regions. To reach the proposed goal, the research was carried out in three stages, each with its own objectives and methodologies. In the first stage a historical rescue of the coffee industry trajectory was carried out in each region studied. The collected information allowed to observe particularities in the way the activity was implemented and developed in each place. In the second stage, a quantitative analysis was carried out, through logistic regression, to determine the institutional factors that determine differences in activity. A total of 169 questionnaires were used, which served as the basis for proposing two equations that demonstrate differences in aspects such as trust and cooperation, education, adoption of innovations and technologies and management. Finally, the third stage aimed to characterize the institutional environment present in each region and its influence on the current coffee production. For this purpose, 14 interviews were carried out with actors from the coffee chain, such as producers, members of research and extension organizations and cooperatives. The information collected was examined through content analysis. Five categories were defined for the presentation of results: education, innovations and technologies, trust and cooperation, cooperative model and profile of coffee growers. The results allow us to observe that there are differences and similarities between the producers, in addition to presenting in a more detailed way how the coffee cultivation has been coordinated. The data obtained from the three steps employed allow us to infer that the two regions have different institutional environments. In each region, coffee cultivation started and evolved differently. These distinctions have been confirmed through the research strategies used and demonstrate that the producers behave differently on important issues such as relationship, management, education, management, among other points raised. It is believed that such a posture is a result of culture, habits and established values, which indicate the paths to be followed by coffee growers in each locality.