Eficiência das cooperativas da agricultura familiar no contexto da economia solidária

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the efficiency of family farming cooperatives, particularly referenced in the context of Solidarity Economy in Brazil. These economic organizations are primarily constituted to provide assistance to their members, and therefore the pursuit of profit is not the ultimate goal. Thus, efficiency in such organizations should be analyzed from a socioeconomic perspective, considering monetary and non-monetary benefits associated with their action. In this direction, the study of efficiency took place considering the Resource Advantage Theory, which is a theory developed by Hunt and Morgan (1995) that establishes that organizations seek to obtain comparative advantages in resources, to obtain positions of competitive advantage and consequent higher performance. In order to test the theory in the studied universe, resource, market positioning and performance indicators were defined, based on data from the Solidary Economy Information System (SIES base). A total of 269 family agriculture cooperatives were investigated. The study confirmed the hypothesis that cooperatives that have comparative advantages in resources can achieve a superior market positioning. However, superior performance relationships with resources and / or market positioning were not confirmed. In this way, it is possible to say that the efficiency in the use of resources generates superior market positioning, but not necessarily superior performance, partially confirming the applicability of R-A Theory in the studied context. The most important resources in terms of classification of cooperatives are organizational (total number of members), informational (market share) and physical (spending on raw materials and investments). These are the main resources that will enable the creation of value in costs and sales, in order to guarantee a better market positioning of the organization. The variables of minor importance are from the relational group, which refers to the number of supports that the cooperative obtained and the number of networks that participate. Considering the performance, the results show that economic performance is associated to variables of physical resources (expenses with raw materials), informational (market share) and financial (profits). The social performance, given by the participation of the members in collective meetings of members, is related to variables of physical resources (expenses with raw materials) and organizational (total number of members). The social performance measured by the number of achievements has been significantly dependent on the amount of training for the members and the number of marketing channels that the cooperative uses, which refer to organizational and relational resources, respectively.