Extreme poverty remains a persistent problem across the globe. Academics, practitioners, politicians and activists have sought ways to address this persistent problem. Traditional approaches to dealing with endemic poverty have centered around international aid and trade. The band aid approach of using aid alone to alleviate poverty has, at best, been ineffectual. International trade has also often been used as a means to increase the economic standing of an impoverished country. Trade has the potential to increase a country's economic position (e.g., gross domestic product) however it does not necessarily reduce poverty. It has become apparent that more effect means of reducing poverty are needed. In recent years, several bottom-up alternative approaches have emerged. Fair Trade is one such approach that seeks to balance the inequalities of traditional trade and provide a market where those on the bottom can participate more fully and fairly in economic enterprise. This study investigates the state of the alternative form of trade known as Fair Trade. Specifically, this study examines the development, functioning, and sustainability of the North American Fair Trade market. Realistically speaking, Fair Trade, which accounts for only a very small percentage of global trade, currently does not appear to be a replacement for traditional free trade. However, this study investigates if the Fair Trade market has the potential to become an important component of general efforts (e.g., by the United Nations and World Bank) to raise the living standards of the world's poor and function as an alternative market to the traditional free trade market. Two key areas of the market were examined in this study to ascertain the sustainability of the Fair Trade market. Specifically, the financial sustainability of the Fair Trade market was assessed. Quantitative data on sales and growth of Fair Trade goods over the past several decades was compiled to illustrate the relative significance and the future prospects of this market's financial status. These data were supplemented with an analysis of the financial records of available years of operation from a sample of Fair Trade businesses. Also, the organizational structure of the Fair Trade market was examined to ascertain the operational sustainability of the market. Organizational data were compiled to identify the business choices made by Fair Trade businesses. Results suggest that financially the North American Fair Trade market is growing at or above the pace of comparable non-Fair Trade businesses. Further, this study highlights a distinct and largely self sustaining organizational structure of the North American Fair Trade market. / Sociology

Esta Tesis se enmarca en la discusión acerca de la construcción de alternativas ante los crecientes procesos de exclusión y fragmentación socioeconómica que presentan los territorios en la actualidad. Específicamente, se centra en el análisis del comportamiento de los mercados alternativos en tanto espacios de inclusión socio-económica en el territorio. El problema de investigación se resuelve a través del estudio de caso de la Feria Comunitaria de Productores Agropecuarios y Artesanos de la Ciudad de Plottier (Provincia del Neuquén) y haciendo uso de metodologías cualitativas de investigación. El enfoque analítico utilizado considera a los mercados como una síntesis de la manera en que los diferentes actores se relacionan en el plano local. En consecuencia, la investigación aporta referencias empíricas respecto a las especificidades del contexto territorial en el que se desarrolla la Feria como así también de las trayectorias, condiciones e intereses socioeconómicos que convergen en el espacio ferial y del modo en que se resuelven las diferentes situaciones que condicionan la estabilización y legitimación local de la Feria. El resultado de este análisis pone en evidencia la potencialidad del espacio construido en tanto dinamizador de procesos de inclusión y desarrollo territorial, identifica elementos que influyen en la construcción social del espacio y propone líneas de intervención tendientes a atenuar las contrariedades a las que se expone la Feria en tanto alternativa orientada hacia el desarrollo de espacios sociales incluyentes. / This thesis is part of the discussion about the construction of alternatives against growing processes of socioeconomic fragmentation and exclusion that occur in territories nowadays. It focuses specifically on the behavior of alternative markets as spaces of socioeconomic inclusion in the territory. The research problem is solved by case study of the Agricultural Producers and Craftsmens Community Fair of Plottier City (Neuquén Province) using qualitative research methodologies. The analytical approach used considers to the markets as a synthesis of how the different actors relate to each other in the local context. Consequently, the research provides empirical references regarding the specificities of the territorial context in which the Fair is developed, as well as the socioeconomic backgrounds, conditions and interests that converge at the Fairs social space and the way in which the different situations that condition stabilization and local legitimation of the Fair are solved. The result of this analysis demonstrates the potencial of the constructed space to boost processes of inclusion and territorial development. Otherways, it identifies elements that influence on the social construction of the space and proposes intervention lines to mitigate the conflicts faced by the Fair as an alternative oriented towards the development of inclusive social spaces

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Gabriela - Final.pdf: 1847570 bytes, checksum: 1c0ca405ebfb9ed073a0f784e4751154 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-03 / Para o desenvolvimento econômico é crucial que as empresas tenham acesso suficiente a fontes de financiamento. Porém, as pequenas e médias empresas brasileiras, assim como ocorre em outros países, enfrentam dificuldades relacionadas à obtenção de fontes de financiamento para a realização de suas operações e investimentos. O mercado de ações é uma das alternativas de financiamento especialmente pouco acessada por empresas desse porte. No Brasil, verifica-se uma grande concentração da atividade do mercado de capitais em torno de grandes empresas. Ou seja, o acesso de empresas de pequeno e médio porte ao mercado de ações é, ainda, incipiente. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar os fatores que explicam a participação inexpressiva de empresas de pequeno e médio porte no mercado de ações brasileiro, a fim de entender o papel do Direito no desenvolvimento do mercado de capitais. Para tanto, foram adotados dois métodos de pesquisa, quais sejam, a análise documental e a realização de entrevistas com sócios majoritários ou acionistas controladores de pequenas e médias empresas, bem como com gestores de fundos de investimento. A partir das entrevistas, foram identificados diversos fatores que desestimulam a abertura de capital por empresas de menor porte e a realização de investimentos nessas empresas. Esses fatores corroboram os resultados verificados em outros estudos sobre o tema e também demonstram novos elementos que influenciam o problema de pesquisa estudado. Assim, a conclusão do trabalho é a de que os principais fatores que explicam a participação inexpressiva de pequenas e médias empresas no mercado de ações, da perspectiva dos potenciais emissores de ações, são: (i) custos de abertura de capital e de manutenção de uma companhia aberta; (ii) receio de perda de controle da companhia; (iii) resistência à entrada de novos sócios; (iv) resistência ao cumprimento de obrigações de divulgação de informações; (v) resistência à implementação de práticas de gestão profissionalizada. Da perspectiva dos potenciais investidores, as principais dificuldades mapeadas são: (i) baixa liquidez no mercado secundário; (ii) resistência à implementação de práticas de governança; (iii) falta de informação a respeito das pequenas e médias empresas; (iv) alta taxa de juros; (v) maior risco de investimento. / For economic development it is crucial that companies have sufficient access to financing options. However, in Brazil small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as in other countries, face difficulties in accessing financing supporting investment and growth. The stock market is one of the financing alternatives that is particularly less accessed by small and medium enterprises. In Brazil, there is a great concentration of capital market activity around large companies. Therefore, the access of SMEs to the stock market is still incipient. This study aims to identify the factors that explain the inexpressive participation of small and medium enterprises in the Brazilian stock market, in order to understand the role of law in the development of the capital market. In order to do so, two research methods were adopted: documentary analysis and interviews with majority partners or controlling shareholders, as well as investment fund managers. From the interviews, there were observed many factors that hinder the process of going public by SMEs and the investment in those companies. These factors confirm the results verified in other studies on the subject and also show new elements that influence the studied research question. Thus, the conclusion of the research is that the main factors that explain the inexpressive participation of small and medium enterprises in the stock market, from the perspective of issuers are: (i) costs of listing and maintenance (ii) fear of losing the control of the company; (ii) resistance to the entry of new shareholders; (iv) resistance to comply with disclosure rules; (v) resistance to adopt practices of professional management. From the perspective of investors, the main difficulties are: (i) low liquidity in the secondary market; (ii) resistance to the implementation of governance practices; (iii) lack of information on small and medium enterprises; (iv) high interest rates; (v) higher investment risk.