The Importance Of Informal Institutions In Institutional Arrangements With Small Producers: Case Of Table Grapes In The Region Of Jales, Sao Paulo, Brazil

In 2011, the largest Brazilian states to produce table grapes were Pernambuco and São Paulo. The region of Jales, a city located in the northwestern region of São Paulo, is the largest producer of fine table grapes. In this region, producers work exclusively with wholesalers (CEAGESP), passing through an intermediary called mateiro. In order to verify the importance of this intermediary, the objective of the research has been to analyze and understand the functioning of institutional arrangements used by grape growers in the region of Jales to market their production. It was used a model that combines formal and informal institutions with the model of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). A questionnaire was conducted in April 2008 with 6.2% of producers of the region of Jales and 12.5% of the purchasers of table grapes. The sampling was non-probabilistic. Hybrid arrangements are recommended, with necessity of guarantees for the producers. Nevertheless, formal contracts do not work well with small producers, as they do not know the wholesalers, increasing the difficulty of establishing informal guarantees. Producers considered their products as delivered to the mateiros, with whom they established lasting relationships of trust. In conclusion, the mateiro is the main actor between producers and wholesalers and acts as an independent agent, although employee of the wholesaler. Relations between farmers and mateiros are based on the existence of social capital, which allows the creation of informal guarantees and the reduction of transaction costs.