Assessing competitive position of Uruguay’s beef sector
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies
ISSN: 2044-0839
Article publication date: 4 June 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an economic evaluation of Uruguay’s beef industry competitiveness to quantify the effects of public policies (taxes, subsidies, social charges) on the various links constituting the beef export chain and estimate the impact of transfers of resources between the beef industry and other sectors of the economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) techniques were employed to quantify the effects of public policies on the competitiveness of Uruguay’s beef industry. A series of PAM coefficients were calculated to assess the competitiveness of the beef export chain in 2010 and 2013 with comparison between the two years to make policy recommendations.
Findings
Beef sector returns captured by private agents decreased from 30 percent in 2010 to 10 percent in 2013. Competitiveness of the beef export chain deteriorated between 2010 and 2013 due primarily to higher prices paid for live cattle by the beef slaughtering, manufacturing, and packing sector. Uruguay’s beef industry transfers resources to the larger economy via social security payments and is penalized as a result of high capital costs.
Research limitations/implications
Although three different sources of resource transfers were identified, more effort is needed to improve the precision of estimations.
Originality/value
The competitiveness of export chains is critical to the economic and social wellbeing of small-economy countries. They must be efficient producing for the international markets at the time they constitute pillars of the whole economy.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is part of the normal research activities carried out by the authors at the Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA). The project was financed 100 percent by this institution. The authors want to acknowledge the journal’s anonymous reviewers, as well as to some colleagues that kindly revised the original manuscript. Their critics and suggestions greatly improved the quality of the discussion and helped to bring interest to potential readers. Any remaining potential weakness or error is the sole responsibility of the authors.
Citation
Lanfranco, B., Ferraro, B. and Rava, C. (2018), "Assessing competitive position of Uruguay’s beef sector", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 288-302. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-12-2016-0078
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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