The plurality of sugar cane transactions in western São Paulo

Plural forms in transactions are a phenomenon that has been studied in various economic activities, especially in franchises. There exist studies that have analyzed such transactions, but these studies do not cover the set of transactions that companies adopt seeking the same result. More than one governance structure was observed in terms of organizing transactions to supply sugarcane to plants in the western region of São Paulo state. This article aims to analyze the main factors which justify the choice of singular or plural governance forms in plants of this region. We conducted a field research by interviewing decision makers in the supply chain of sugarcane to sugar and/or ethanol mills. The results indicate elements from transaction cost economics can be used to explain the adoption of plural forms of business coordination and contribute to understanding companies' market adaptation processes, especially when a company is viewed as a nexus of negotiations and not merely a production function. Thus, actions that explain business strategy gain greater complexity and bring the novelty of other gains through the adoption of plural management firm transactions.