Master of Science / Agricultural Economics / Jason S. Bergtold / The use of elasticities of substitution between inputs has become the standard method for addressing the effect of a change in the mix of input used for production from a technological or cost standpoint. (Chambers 1988) A researcher that wants to estimate this elasticity, or some other comparative static, typically would do so using parametric production or cost function (e.g. translog or normalized quadratic) with panel data. For a study with only cross-sectional data, the construction of such a function may be problematic. Using a dual approach, a nonparametric alternative in such a situation may be the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Cooper et al. (2000) provided a methodology for estimating elasticities of substitution for the technical production problem using DEA. To our knowledge, this has not been extended to the cost efficiency problem, which would be equivalent to estimating Allen partial or Morishima elasticities of substitution between inputs using a cost function (or cost minimization framework). The purpose of this thesis is to show how elasticities of substitution can be derived and estimated for the technical production and cost (overall economic) efficiency DEA under variable returns to scale. In addition, an empirical example using Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA) data is presented to illustrate the estimation of these elasticities. The results showed that input substitutability is relatively limited at the enterprise level

O setor primário da região de Marília tem passado por crises periódicas, em função do comportamento cíclico de preços e produção do café, sua principal atividade agropecuária. Com isso, a receita dos cafeicultores está sujeita a sensíveis oscilações a cada ano, sugerindo um elevado nível de risco econômico. Como parte do Projeto de Apoio à Competitividade Global da Cultura do Maracujazeiro na Região de Vera Cruz, SP – AFRUVEC/Bioex-CNPq essa dissertação tem como objetivo avaliar o comportamento dos cafeicultores da região de Marília na presença do risco. Uma vez que o grau de aversão ao risco dos agricultores é refletido na escolha dos planos de exploração agropecuária, inicialmente desenvolveu-se uma metodologia para identificar os sistemas de produção de café existentes na região. Essa identificação baseou-se na elaboração e análise de grupos focais e validação dos resultados através de análise discriminante. Assim, foram identificados os sistemas "monocultura de café", "cafeicultura e pecuária" e "pequena propriedade diversificada". Posteriormente, selecionou-se uma propriedade típica de cada sistema para o estudo do comportamento dos agricultores perante o risco. A programação linear foi a técnica utilizada na modelagem dos sistemas de produção. Para a geração das fronteiras de eficiência, que refletem o trade-off entre rendimento e risco, foi empregado o MOTAD. Os resultados dessa pesquisa indicam que o produtor do sistema cafeicultura e pecuária é mais averso ao risco do que o monocultor. Esse comportamento era esperado, pois as margens brutas da pecuária são negativamente correlacionadas com as do café, indicando que a combinação dessas atividades é eficiente do ponto de vista da redução do risco. No entanto, constatou-se que o pequeno produtor diversificado é menos averso ao risco do que o monocultor, contrariando as hipóteses iniciais do trabalho. Esse comportamento pode ser explicado pela estratégia de diversificação adotada pelo agricultor, que optou por investir em diversas espécies frutíferas e na cafeicultura. Grande parte das frutas possui maior grau de risco que o café e, além disso, muitas dessas atividades são positivamente correlacionadas, o que reduz a eficiência da diversificação na minimização dos riscos do sistema. Com isso, pode-se afirmar que o objetivo principal da diversificação da pequena propriedade é a elevação da margem bruta do sistema, pois somente com a cafeicultura o produtor não obteria renda suficiente para permanecer na atividade. A grande contribuição dessa pesquisa é mostrar e divulgar a situação dos pequenos cafeicultores, a importância da diversificação para os mesmos e abrir espaço para a realização de outros estudos na região de Marília. É muito importante que futuras pesquisas levantem alternativas de cultivo para elevar a renda dos pequenos produtores da região, considerando estudos de mercado e identificação de canais de comercialização. Por outro lado, também seria interessante aprofundar o estudo da situação dos pequenos produtores inseridos em outros sistemas que não incluam a cafeicultura, para se ter uma visão mais abrangente dos problemas enfrentados e definir ações efetivas para o desenvolvimento regional. / Marília's region primary sector has passed for periodic crises because of coffee prices and cyclical production behavior. The coffee farmers' income is subject to sensible oscillations each year, suggesting a high level of economic risk. As part of the Passion Fruit Global Competitiveness Support Project in the region of Vera Cruz, SP – AFRUVEC/Bioex-CNPq, the objective of this thesis is to evaluate risk behavior of the Marília's region coffee farmers. Once the degree of farmers' aversion to risk is reflected in the choice of the farming plans, a methodology was initially developed to identify the coffee production systems in the region. This identification was based on focus groups analysis and the results validated through discriminant analysis. Thus, three production systems were identified: "single crop farm coffee", "coffee and cattle" and "small diversified farm". A typical farm for each system was selected for analysing farmers' behavior in the presence of risk. Linear programming technique was used for modeling production systems. MOTAD was used for generating the efficiency frontiers that reflect the trade-off between income and risk. The results indicate that the farmer of "coffee and cattle" system is more averse to risk than that of the "single crop farm". This was an expected behavior, because cattle gross margins are negatively correlated to the coffee ones, indicating that the combination of these activities is efficient in reducing risk. However, it was shown that the small diversified farmer is less averse to risk than the "single crop farm", as opposed to the initial hypotheses of the study. This behavior can be explained by the diversification strategy adopted by the farmer which has chosen to invest in a variety of fruit crops species and coffee. A great part of fruit crops have higher risk degree than the coffee crop, and many of these activities are positively correlated, what reduces the diversification efficiency in the quest of minimum system risk. So it can be stated that the main objective of the small farm diversification system is raising the gross margins, because the farmer would not earn enough income to remain in the activity by just cropping coffee. The major contribution of this research is to show and divulge the importance of the diversification for small coffee farmers. It is very important that future researches could provide farm alternatives to raise the income of small farmers of the region, considering market studies and identification of trading channels. On the other hand, it would also be interesting to deepen the analysis of the situation of small producers in other systems which not include coffee, to have a wider vision of the problems and to define effective actions to ensure the regional development.

A cidade de São Paulo, que abriga 11 milhões de habitantes, sofre constantemente os efeitos dos alagamentos provocados pelas precipitações intensas. Esses alagamentos ocorrem todo verão, em diversas partes da cidade. Além das perdas e inconvenientes sofridos pelos residentes, os alagamentos produzem prejuízos que ultrapassam as fronteiras da cidade, afetando a renda e o produto da região metropolitana, de outras partes do estado e do país. O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar os impactos econômicos dos alagamentos na cidade de São Paulo por meio do uso de um modelo espacial de Equilíbrio Geral Computável, integrado a informações georreferenciadas relacionadas à localização dos pontos de alagamento e às firmas dentro dos raios de influência. Estima-se que os alagamentos contribuem para a redução do crescimento da cidade e do bem estar de seus residentes, além de prejudicar a competitividade local nos mercados doméstico e internacional. Foi identificada uma taxa de dano intra-cidade de 2,1, e uma taxa de impacto total de 4,9 para a economia brasileira. / The city of São Paulo, home to 11 million people, suffers constantly the effects of flooding caused by extreme precipitation. Localized floods occur every summer in various parts of the city. Besides the losses and inconvenience felt by the residents, floods produce damages that cross the city boundaries, affecting income and output in the metropolitan area as well as in other parts of the state and the country. The objective of this study is to evaluate the economic impacts of floods in the city of São Paulo through the use of a spatial Computable General Equilibrium model integrated to GIS information related to the location of points of floods and the firms within their influence. It is estimated that floods contributed to reduce city growth and residents welfare, as well as to hamper local competitiveness in both domestic and international markets. An intra-city total impact-damage ratio of 2.1 and an economy-wide total impact-damage ratio of 4.9 were found.

A company's decisions on how to manage its reverse supply chain (RSC) are important for both economic and environmental reasons. From a strategic standpoint, the key decision a manufacturer makes is whether or not to collect products at their end-of-life (EOL) (i.e., when their useful lives are over), and if so, how to recover value from the recovered products. We call this decision as the EOL option of a product, and it determines how the RSC is designed and managed overall. Many EOL options exist for a product such as resale, refurbishment, remanufacturing and part salvage. However, many factors influence the optimal EOL option. These factors include the product's: (i) characteristics, (ii) design, and (iii) pricing. A product's characteristics are its properties that impact the various costs incurred during its production, residual part values, and customer demand. In this work, the product design is viewed as the choice of quality for each of its parts. A part's quality-level determines, among other things, its cost, salvage value, and the likelihood of obtaining it in good condition from a disassembled used product. Finally, the manufacturer must determine how to price its new and used products. This decision depends on many considerations such as whether new and used products compete and whether competition exists from other manufacturers. The choice of appropriate EOL options for products constitutes a foundation of RSC design. In this work, we study how to optimally determine a product's optimal EOL option and consider the impact of product design and product pricing on this decision. We present a full description of the system that details the relationships among all entities. The system description reveals the use of a production planning type of modeling strategy. Additionally, a comprehensive and general mathematical model is presented that takes into consideration multi-period planning and product inventory. A unique aspect of our model over previous production planning models for RSC is that we consider the product returns as being endogenous variables rather than them being exogenous. This model forms the basis of our research, and we use its special cases in our analysis. To begin our analysis of the problem, we study the case in which the product design and price are fixed. Both non-mandated and mandated collection are considered. Our analysis focuses on a special case of the problem involving two stages: in the first stage, new products are produced, and in the second stage, the EOL products are collected for value recovery. For fixed product design and price, our analysis reveals a fundamental mapping of product characteristics onto optimal EOL options. It is germane to our understanding of the problem in general since a multi-period problem is separable into multiple two-stage problems. Necessary and sufficient optimality conditions are also presented for each possible solution of this two-stage problem. For the two-part problem, a graphical mapping of product characteristics onto optimal EOL options is also presented, which reveals how EOL options vary with product characteristics. Additionally, we study the case of product design under mandated collection, as encountered in product leasing. We assume new production cost, part replacement cost, and part salvage value to be functions of the quality-level of a part along with the likelihood of recovering a good-part from a returned product. These are reasonable assumptions for leased products since the customer is paying for the usage of the product over a fixed contract period. In this case, the two-stage model can still be used to gain insights. For the two-part problem, a method for mapping part yields onto optimal EOL options is presented. Closed-form optimality conditions for joint determination of part yields and EOL options are not generally attainable for the two-stage case; however, computationally efficient methods for this problem are developed for some relatively non-restrictive special cases. It is found that, typically, a part may belong to one of three major categories: (i) it is of low quality and will need to be replaced to perform remanufacturing, (ii) it is of high quality and its surplus will be salvaged, or (iii) it is of moderate quality and just enough of its amount is collected to meet remanufactured product demand. Finally, we consider the problem of determining optimal prices for new and remanufactured products under non-mandated manufacturer's choice of collection. New and remanufactured products may or may not compete, depending on market conditions. Additionally, we assume the manufacturer to have a monopoly on the product. Again, the two-stage problem is used and efficient solution methods are developed. Efficient solution methods and key insights are presented. / Ph. D.

A produção de frango de corte tem impressionado pelo dinamismo e pela competência conquistada nas últimas décadas, destacando-se o Brasil como o segundo maior produtor dessa proteína animal. O ganho de produtividade, associado à coordenação da cadeia avícola, colocou o País como um dos mais eficientes produtores. Entretanto, a significativa especialização da atividade tende a excluir do processo produtivo os pequenos avicultores e os produtores menos eficientes. Assim, o estudo buscou medir a eficiência econômica dos produtores de frango de corte das regiões Sul e Centro-Oeste do Brasil, identificando quais fatores influenciam essa medida de desempenho. Para isso, usou-se uma função fronteira de lucro estocástica em um estágio (modelo 2) em que os coeficientes da fronteira e os efeitos da ineficiência são obtidos simultaneamente, assumindo que os termos de erro não são identicamente distribuídos. Concluiu-se que para a região Sul, o preço da mão-de-obra contratada interfere significativamente na lucratividade das unidades produtivas, o que seria um dos fatores associados ao maior uso do trabalho familiar no desenvolvimento das atividades. Além disso, os resultados sugerem a presença de uma melhor utilização das áreas ocupadas com a produção avícola. Os efeitos da ineficiência são sentidos principalmente no baixo nível de educação dos que tomam as decisões e nos índices elevados de conversão alimentar. Já no Centro-Oeste, os coeficientes indicaram que o maior uso de mão-de-obra familiar poderia elevar a lucratividade dos produtores. Pelo fato de ser uma região relativamente nova e possuir condições favoráveis ao investimento em capital e tecnologia, estaria indicando um maior lucro na atividade. Não se identificou ganho de escala por meio do modelo estocástico. Embora não se observa uma tendência contínua associada à escala de eficiência, no Centro-Oeste parece existirem ganhos de eficiência relevante nos estratos de médio e alto escala de produção para os padrões regionais. / The dynamism and ability acquired through the last decade by the broiler production is very impressive. The productivity rate gain associated to the good management of poultry chain in Brazil led the country to be the second biggest producer of this animal’s protein. However, the significant specialization of this activity tend to exclude the smaller producers and those who are lesser efficient in the productive process. In view of that, this study intends to precise the economic efficiency of the broiler producers in the Southerner and Center-Southerner regions of Brazil. For that, the main factors that influence the economic efficiency were identified. To reach those results, it was considered the stochastic profit function in a stage (model 2) where the coefficients of the frontier and the inefficiency effects are obtained simultaneously, since the terms of error are not identical distributing. It was possible to conclude that in the Southerner region of Brazil, the contracted labor force influence significantly the profitability of the productive farms. That’s one of the factors that explain the great use of the familiar labor force in that region. Moreover, the results pointed a better utilization of the broiler producing areas in Brazil. The effects of the inefficiency are present mainly in the producers and players with low educational level, and also in the high food conversion ratio. In the Center-Westerner of Brazil, the coefficients pointed that the better use of the familiar manpower could raise the probability of the producers. For been a new region that present positive conditions for the investments in capital and technology, it also obtained a larger profit with the activity. It was not identified gains by the stochastic model. None successively trend associated to the efficiency scale were pointed in the Center-Westerner of Brazil. Even so, the region shows efficiency gains in the middle and high scales of production in regional terms.

A produção de frango de corte tem impressionado pelo dinamismo e pela competência conquistada nas últimas décadas, destacando-se o Brasil como o segundo maior produtor dessa proteína animal. O ganho de produtividade, associado à coordenação da cadeia avícola, colocou o País como um dos mais eficientes produtores. Entretanto, a significativa especialização da atividade tende a excluir do processo produtivo os pequenos avicultores e os produtores menos eficientes. Assim, o estudo buscou medir a eficiência econômica dos produtores de frango de corte das regiões Sul e Centro-Oeste do Brasil, identificando quais fatores influenciam essa medida de desempenho. Para isso, usou-se uma função fronteira de lucro estocástica em um estágio (modelo 2) em que os coeficientes da fronteira e os efeitos da ineficiência são obtidos simultaneamente, assumindo que os termos de erro não são identicamente distribuídos. Concluiu-se que para a região Sul, o preço da mão-de-obra contratada interfere significativamente na lucratividade das unidades produtivas, o que seria um dos fatores associados ao maior uso do trabalho familiar no desenvolvimento das atividades. Além disso, os resultados sugerem a presença de uma melhor utilização das áreas ocupadas com a produção avícola. Os efeitos da ineficiência são sentidos principalmente no baixo nível de educação dos que tomam as decisões e nos índices elevados de conversão alimentar. Já no Centro-Oeste, os coeficientes indicaram que o maior uso de mão-de-obra familiar poderia elevar a lucratividade dos produtores. Pelo fato de ser uma região relativamente nova e possuir condições favoráveis ao investimento em capital e tecnologia, estaria indicando um maior lucro na atividade. Não se identificou ganho de escala por meio do modelo estocástico. Embora não se observa uma tendência contínua associada à escala de eficiência, no Centro-Oeste parece existirem ganhos de eficiência relevante nos estratos de médio e alto escala de produção para os padrões regionais. / The dynamism and ability acquired through the last decade by the broiler production is very impressive. The productivity rate gain associated to the good management of poultry chain in Brazil led the country to be the second biggest producer of this animal’s protein. However, the significant specialization of this activity tend to exclude the smaller producers and those who are lesser efficient in the productive process. In view of that, this study intends to precise the economic efficiency of the broiler producers in the Southerner and Center-Southerner regions of Brazil. For that, the main factors that influence the economic efficiency were identified. To reach those results, it was considered the stochastic profit function in a stage (model 2) where the coefficients of the frontier and the inefficiency effects are obtained simultaneously, since the terms of error are not identical distributing. It was possible to conclude that in the Southerner region of Brazil, the contracted labor force influence significantly the profitability of the productive farms. That’s one of the factors that explain the great use of the familiar labor force in that region. Moreover, the results pointed a better utilization of the broiler producing areas in Brazil. The effects of the inefficiency are present mainly in the producers and players with low educational level, and also in the high food conversion ratio. In the Center-Westerner of Brazil, the coefficients pointed that the better use of the familiar manpower could raise the probability of the producers. For been a new region that present positive conditions for the investments in capital and technology, it also obtained a larger profit with the activity. It was not identified gains by the stochastic model. None successively trend associated to the efficiency scale were pointed in the Center-Westerner of Brazil. Even so, the region shows efficiency gains in the middle and high scales of production in regional terms.

Detta examensarbete har haft till syfte att finna åtgärder för att genom ett mer logiskt stringent flöde kunna fokusera produktionen i ett mindre företag, Svenska maskinskyltfabriken (SMF-skylt). Då flödet genom fabriken ändrats under åren, med nya maskiner och produkter har ett behov av att se över och anpassa det till dagens förhållanden uppstått. Detta dels för att effektivisera flödet i sig, dels för att se hur det påverkar diverse konkurrensmedel som företaget idag kämpar med att höja. Då mindre företag ofta dras med små resurser avsatta till att göra förändringar i verksamheten har det varit viktigt att i detta arbete sätta upp en åtgärdsplan som öppnar upp för succesiva förbättringar, vilka kan implementeras i tur och ordning utan att produktionen behöver stå stilla en längre tid. Enligt befintlig teori kommer en fokuserad produktion med kortare transportsträcka och ökad flödeseffektivitet bidra till såväl bättre leveransprecision som kvalité. För att uppnå önskat resultat har diverse verktyg och metoder använts under projektets gång, exempelvis ”Learning to see”-map, korrelationsmatris, ABC-analys och spagettidiagram. Genom dessa har antalet flöden mellan olika maskiner systematiskt kunnat kartläggas och kortas med ett fokus på de mest frekvent förekommande. Störst bidrag i analyserna av resultatet har kunskapen om Lean, produktionssystem och hållbarhet gett, då dessa begrepp är vitala för arbetets syfte. Arbetet har förts framåt genom analys av denna bakomliggande vetenskapliga teori på området Operations Management, dock som anpassats till det verkliga fallet SMF-skylt. Utifrån detta har såväl dagsläge som ett antal framtida scenarion kunnat analyseras med likadana verktyg vilket gett en adekvat jämförelse dem emellan. Alla förändringar i företagets produktionslayout visualiseras i rapporten med pedagogiska kartor, oavsett om ändringen är en ny dörr eller en omflyttning av maskiner. Resultatet är de nya layouterna och kan jämföras med dagsläget i konkreta tal genom en jämförelse av den totala tillryggalagda sträckan för produkterna genom fabrikslokalen. Genom projektets åtgärder kan transportsträckorna sänkas med 21% mot dagsläget. Stor vikt bör läggas vid det förbättrade flödet som genom tydligare mönster hjälper företaget att komma till rätta med sitt produktionssystem och samtidigt ta ett steg mot Lean produktion. / This thesis aims to find some arrangements to achieve a more logical flow throughout the production area of a small company, Svenska Maskinskyltfabriken (SMF-skylt). The flow through the factory has changed during the past years with new products in the assortment and other equipment available. Therefore, a need to develop the layout to adjust it to the current flow has arisen. This is partly to make the flow itself more efficient, but also to improve the manufacturing outputs which they are struggling with today. Since the case company is in an unstable economic situation and not able to imperil the revenue, the recommended changes must be divided into smaller steps, each economically affordable and building on the previous one. With a successive order, it will lower the barriers to commence the development process and eliminate long term stops in the manufacturing. According to existing theory, a focused factory with shorter transports and improved flow efficiency will benefit the manufacturing outputs, delivery precision and quality. To achieve the desired results several tools and methods have been used, for example “Learning to see”-map, correlation matrix, ABC-analysis and spagettidiagram. Using these tools, the number of transports between different stations have been mapped and shortened with focus on the most frequent ones. To analyze the results knowledge about lean production, production systems and sustainability have been vital. The work has been carried forward by scientific theories within this field, Operations Management. Although some of the theories used in this project have been adapted to the specific case, they form the scientific basis of the work. This scientific basis is then used to analyze both current state at SMFskylt, future suggested scenarios and the comparison between current state and future scenarios. All changes in the company’s layout is visualized in the report with clear maps, either if the change means a new door or another placement of the equipment. The result of these improvements is presented as numeric values in terms of reduced transport distance through the production area. By implementing these changes, the distance has been shortened by 21%, compared to today´s situation. Great emphasis should be put upon the improved flow which, through clearer patterns, helps the company to rectify its production system and at the same time take a step towards Lean production.

Nigeria, like all other rice consuming nations, has experienced a surge in domestic demand for rice since 1970. However, local rice production has not been sufficient to meet local demand, leading to this demand continually being filled by imports. The Federal Government of Nigeria has initiated subsidies programs intended to improve Nigerian rice farmers' technical and cost efficiency levels. This quantitative study evaluated the impact of these policies on the technical and cost efficiency levels of paddy rice farm households in Nigeria. Farrell's (1957) efficiency theory and production theory served as the theoretical frameworks. Data were collected from a cross-section of 300 paddy rice farmers drawn from 3 states in Nigeria. The study used 2 estimation techniques: parametric technique (SF) and the non-parametric technique (DEA). The results showed that paddy rice production in Nigeria was still profitable but low and the estimated average technical and cost efficiency levels from the DEA approach were 0.721 and 0.295, respectively. Evidence suggests that the formulation and implementation of subsidy programs on farm inputs were relevant in the variations of technical and cost efficiency levels across the rice farm households. The study findings support the continuity of the subsidy policies to encourage increased rice production; they also suggest that governments should address the issues of post-harvest losses, degrading irrigation facilities, and ineffective rural development policies. The positive social change implications of this research include providing information to inform government policy changes designed to more effectively address rice importation and pricing, positively impacting the standard of living for rural farmers and communities in Nigeria.

O Programa do Biodiesel, estabelecido pelo Governo Federal, visa atingir diversos objetivos: diversificação da matriz energética, diminuição da dependência de energia não renovável e redução dos impactos ambientais resultantes do uso de combustíveis fósseis. Um importante componente social é a tentativa de utilizar o Programa para melhorar a renda da agricultura familiar, contribuindo para a redução das desigualdades. Esta pesquisa analisa a estrutura de custo na produção de mamona nos principais municípios produtores da região de Ireçê-BA, aplicando a Teoria Neoclássica da Produção na estimativa de uma função custo Translog. Essa função é utilizada para derivar a curva de custo médio e diversas formas de elasticidades. Na região do estudo, constatou-se que a mamona adota tecnologia intensiva em mão-de-obra e com processos rudimentares. Em comparação, a literatura mostra que a produção da soja é mais intensiva em capital, tecnologicamente mais avançada e sua cadeia produtiva encontra-se melhor organizada. Os índices de economia de escala estimados para a mamona são bastante significativos e os custos médios são declinantes para todo o intervalo da amostra. A comparação dos custos de produção da cultura da mamona e da soja indica que o óleo de mamona tem custo de produção 7% menor que o da soja. Por outro lado, a presença de significativa economia de escala mostra que a transferência de renda para os agricultores familiares, através do programa de biodiesel, só seria possível através de apoio do governo (compensação dos diferenciais de custos entre os pequenos e grandes produtores) ou via expansão da escala de produção acima dos níveis observados na amostra. / The Biodiesel Program, established by the Brazilian Federal Government, has several objectives: energy matrix diversification; reduce the dependence on non-renewable energy; and, reduce the environmental impacts resulting from fossil fuels consumption. An important aspect of this Program is the potential to improve the family farms income, helping to reduce social inequality. This research analyzes the cost structure of castor bean production in the region of Irecê-BA, using the Neoclassical Theory of Production to estimate a Translog cost function. This function is used to derive the average cost curve and several forms of elasticities. In the region covered by this study, castor bean production is heavily dependent on labor and is not technologically advanced. In comparison, the literature shows that soybean is much more intensive in capital, uses advanced technology and its production chain is much better organized. The scale economy indices estimated for castor bean are very significant and the average cost is declining over the whole sample interval. The cost comparison shows that castor bean oil has a slightly smaller average cost (-7%) than soybean oil. On the other hand, the significant scale economy found in this study indicates that the objective of improving the family farm income, through the biodiesel program, will only be possible through the governments support (compensation for the cost differential between the smaller and larger farms) or through the expansion of production scale above the levels observed in the sample.

O Programa do Biodiesel, estabelecido pelo Governo Federal, visa atingir diversos objetivos: diversificação da matriz energética, diminuição da dependência de energia não renovável e redução dos impactos ambientais resultantes do uso de combustíveis fósseis. Um importante componente social é a tentativa de utilizar o Programa para melhorar a renda da agricultura familiar, contribuindo para a redução das desigualdades. Esta pesquisa analisa a estrutura de custo na produção de mamona nos principais municípios produtores da região de Ireçê-BA, aplicando a Teoria Neoclássica da Produção na estimativa de uma função custo Translog. Essa função é utilizada para derivar a curva de custo médio e diversas formas de elasticidades. Na região do estudo, constatou-se que a mamona adota tecnologia intensiva em mão-de-obra e com processos rudimentares. Em comparação, a literatura mostra que a produção da soja é mais intensiva em capital, tecnologicamente mais avançada e sua cadeia produtiva encontra-se melhor organizada. Os índices de economia de escala estimados para a mamona são bastante significativos e os custos médios são declinantes para todo o intervalo da amostra. A comparação dos custos de produção da cultura da mamona e da soja indica que o óleo de mamona tem custo de produção 7% menor que o da soja. Por outro lado, a presença de significativa economia de escala mostra que a transferência de renda para os agricultores familiares, através do programa de biodiesel, só seria possível através de apoio do governo (compensação dos diferenciais de custos entre os pequenos e grandes produtores) ou via expansão da escala de produção acima dos níveis observados na amostra. / The Biodiesel Program, established by the Brazilian Federal Government, has several objectives: energy matrix diversification; reduce the dependence on non-renewable energy; and, reduce the environmental impacts resulting from fossil fuels consumption. An important aspect of this Program is the potential to improve the family farms income, helping to reduce social inequality. This research analyzes the cost structure of castor bean production in the region of Irecê-BA, using the Neoclassical Theory of Production to estimate a Translog cost function. This function is used to derive the average cost curve and several forms of elasticities. In the region covered by this study, castor bean production is heavily dependent on labor and is not technologically advanced. In comparison, the literature shows that soybean is much more intensive in capital, uses advanced technology and its production chain is much better organized. The scale economy indices estimated for castor bean are very significant and the average cost is declining over the whole sample interval. The cost comparison shows that castor bean oil has a slightly smaller average cost (-7%) than soybean oil. On the other hand, the significant scale economy found in this study indicates that the objective of improving the family farm income, through the biodiesel program, will only be possible through the governments support (compensation for the cost differential between the smaller and larger farms) or through the expansion of production scale above the levels observed in the sample.