La ricerca empirica nei contratti agricoli: procedere con cautela

Journal title RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA AGRARIA
Author/s Decio Zylbersztajn
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2013/3
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 27-40 File size 50 KB
DOI 10.3280/REA2013-003002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The present study compares the evolution of the theory of economic organization with the structure of agricultural contracts on on the basis of specific empirical data. In a nutshell, if the goal of organizational economists is to study how the real economic system works, then I raise the argument that the use of data collected on agricultural contracts does not provide sufficient information and only captures part of the structure of the incentives in most of the institutional arrangements. The proposition is that if data based on existing contracts is used, not considering transactions governed by means other than formal contracts, or not considering dynamic relational and learning aspects embedded in the contractual relation, the results can lead to false conclusions.

Keywords: Contratti agricoli, meccanismi informali di transazione, evidenze empiriche

Jel codes: Q10, L1, L14

  1. Alston L. (2008). The “Case” for Case Studies in New Institutional Economics. Edited by Eric Brousseau and Jean-Michel Glanchant, Cambridge University Press.
  2. Barzel Y. (1997). The Economic Analysis of Property Rights. Cambridge University Press, DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511609398
  3. Barzel Y. (2002). A Theory of the State. Economic Rights, Legal Rights and the Scope of the State, Cambridge University Press, 289 pp.
  4. Barzel Y. (1982). Measurement Cost and the Organization of Markets. Journal of Law and Economics, April, DOI: 10.1086/467005
  5. Coase H.R. (1991). The Institutional Structure of Production, Nobel Prize Lecture.
  6. Dixit A.K. (2007). Lawlessness and Economics: Alternative Modes of Governance, Princeton University Press, 167pp.
  7. Greif A. (1993). Contract Enforceability and Economic Institutions in Early Trade: the Magrhobi Traders Coalition. American Economic Review, 83,3: 525-548.
  8. Hart O. (2002). Norms and the theory of the firm. In The Economics of Contracts: Theories and Applications. Edited by Eric Brousseau and Jean-Michel Glanchant, Cambridge University Press, DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511613807.011
  9. Holmström B. (1979). Moral Hazard and Observability. Bell Journal of Economics, 10: 74-91, DOI: 10.2307/3003320
  10. Holmström B. (1982). Moral Hazard in Teams. Bell Journal of Economics, 13: 324-40, DOI: 10.2307/3003457
  11. Holmström B., Milgrom P. (1991). Multi-Task Principal-Agent Analysis: Incentive Contracts, Asset Ownership and Job Design. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 7: 24-54, DOI: 10.1093/jleo/7.special_issue.24
  12. Holmström B., Milgrom P. (1994). The Firm as an Incentive System. American Economic Review, 84: 972-91.
  13. Joskow P. (1987). Contract Duration and Relationship-Specific Investments: Empirical Evidences from the Coal Markets. The American Economic Review, 77, n. 1: 168-185.
  14. Klein B. (2000). The Role of Incomplete Contracts in Self- Enforcing Relationships. Revue d’Economie Industrielle, 92.
  15. Lazzarini S.G., Chaddad F.R., Cook M. (2001). Integrating Supply Chain and Network Analyses: the study of Netchains. Journal of Chain and Network Science, vol. 1, n. 1, DOI: 10.3920/JCNS2001.x002
  16. Leles C., Zylbersztajn D. (2012). Pacta Sunt Servanda Versus the Social Role of Contracts: the case of Brazilian agriculture contracts. Revista Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural.
  17. Macneil (1978). Contracts: adjustments of long term economic relations under classical, and neoclassical contract law. Northwestern University Law Review, 72: 854-906.
  18. Masten S.E. (1998). Contract Choice. Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Edited by Boukaert B. and Geest D. de Elgar.
  19. Masten S.E., Saussier S. (2002). The Economics of Contracts: Theories and Applications. Edited by Eric Brousseau and Jean-Michel Glanchant, Cambridge University Press.
  20. Monteiro G.F.A., Saes M.S.M., Caleman S.M.Q., Zylbersztajn D. (2012). The Role of Empirical Research in the Study of Complex Forms of Governance in Agroindustrial Systems. Revista de Sociologia e Economia Rural (forthcoming), DOI: 10.1590/S0103-20032012000400005
  21. Ostrom E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511807763
  22. Ostrom E. (2010). Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems. American Economic Review, 100, june: 1-33, DOI: 10.1257/aer.100.3.641
  23. Sykuta M. (2001). Empirical Research on the Economics of Organization and the Role of Contracting and Organizations, Research Institute (CORI).
  24. Sykuta (2008). The New Institutional Econometrics: the Case of Research in Contracting and Organization. In New Institutional Economics: a guidebook. Edited by Eric Brusseau and Jean-Michel Glachant, Cambridge University Press.
  25. Zylbersztajn D., Lazzarini S.G. (2005). “On the survival of contracts: assessing the stability of technology licensing agreements in the Brazilian seed industry”. Journal of Economics and Business Organization, 56: 103-120, DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2003.02.001
  26. Williamson O.E. (1996). The Mechanisms of Governance. Oxford University Press.
  27. Vavra P. (2009). Role, Usage and Motivation of Contracts in Agriculture. OECD Working Paper Series, #13.

Decio Zylbersztajn, Empirical Research in Agricultural Contracts: Watch your Step in "RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA AGRARIA" 3/2013, pp 27-40, DOI: 10.3280/REA2013-003002