Competition policy is meant to ensure a level-playing in the market, but its ultimate goal is to enhance consumer interests. The telecommunications sector is one of the two sectors that have set up a competition policy in Hong Kong. This paper examines the current competition policy framework in the telecommunications sector by analyzing the level of consumer protection using the Structure-Conduct-Performance Paradigm. It examines in detail the consumer related complaint cases received by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority in four markets: fixed line telephone services, mobile phone services, International Direct Dialing services, and Internet services. Regression analysis results reveal that more competition in a market has a positive and significant effect on the frequency of complaints about misleading or deceptive conduct on the part of operators in the period from 1999 to 2006. Also, smaller and newer operators tend to receive more complaints. From the lessons we have drawn from the telecommunications sector, a more comprehensive policy coped with consumer protection regulation is needed in order to better promote consumer interests in Hong Kong.

Bakgrund: Taximarknaden har varit, och är, under förändring. Till följd av den teknologiska utvecklingen har nya aktörer och substitut etablerat sig på marknaden. Uber, Bzzt och Lime är endast tre av de företag som vuxit fram under de senare åren. De nya företagen bidrar inte endast med nya, innovativa substitut till traditionell taxi, utan även ökad konkurrens vad gäller tillgänglighet via digitala plattformar. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera den teknologiska utvecklingens betydelse för taximarknadens struktur och funktion, med fokus på Stockholm. Metod: Uppsatsens referensram är Structure-Conduct-Performance modellen. För djupare analys och förståelse har intervjuer med: Bzzt, Svenska Taxiförbundet och Taxi Stockholm, genomförts. Uppsatsen innefattar även två egna undersökningar om taxiföretagens prisnivå och tillgänglighet. De taxiföretagen som inkluderas i uppsatsen är: Sverigetaxi, TaxiKurir, Taxi Stockholm, TOPCAB samt Uber. Slutsats: Den teknologiska utvecklingen har en stor betydelse för taximarknadens struktur och funktion, i det avseende att den bidrar till en mer kundcentrerad och effektivare marknad. Marknadsstrukturen i Stockholm liknar en hybridmarknad mellan oligopol och fullständig konkurrens, beroende på de storleksmässiga skillnader som finns mellan aktörerna. Marknaden har en jämn prisnivå och bra tillgänglighet, varav det sistnämnda har förbättrats till följd av utvecklandet av taxiföretagens egna applikationer. / Background: The taxi market has been, and is, undergoing a transformation. As a result of the technological development, new companies and substitutes have been established on the market. Uber, Bzzt and Lime are only three of all the new companies that have emerged in the recent years, and not only contribute with new, innovative substitutes for traditional taxi, but also increased competition in terms of accessibility through digital platforms. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to analyze the influence of the technological development on the taxi market’s structure and function, with focus on Stockholm. Completion: The main framework of the essay is the Structure-Conduct-Performance model. For a more profound analysis three interviews were conducted with: Bzzt, Svenska Taxiförbundet and Taxi Stockholm. The essay also includes a study of the price level and a study of the accessibility to a taxi. The included companies are: Sverigetaxi, TaxiKurir, Taxi Stockholm, TOPCAB and Uber. Conclusions: The technological development have a large impact on the structure and function of the taxi market, since it contributes to a more customer-centered and efficient market. The market structure in Stockholm is similar to a hybrid market of an oligopoly and perfect competition, depending on the difference in size of the existing companies. The market has a uniform price level and a good accessibility, of which the latest has improved as a result of the development of the taxi companies own applications.

Since 1993, the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) has been the dominant form of large-scale infrastructure procurement used by National Health Service (NHS) organisations in the United Kingdom. As of April 2011, 123 PFI projects for new hospital facilities had been agreed between NHS organisations and private sector consortia, representing privately financed investment of £15.9 billion (in 2010 prices), and a projected long-term cost to the NHS of £70.5 billion. Eight additional hospital PFI schemes were being procured or prepared for tender as of April 2011, with an estimated capital investment value of £2 billion. Despite the financial significance of PFI projects to the NHS, the literature has not assessed whether, or the extent to which, the returns expected by investors are excessive. This gap in the evidence base is highly problematic. The presence of excess returns to investors will have an impact on the cost efficiency and affordability of PFI projects, and consequently the financial sustainability of the NHS organisations that pay for them. This thesis evaluates the returns that investors in NHS-commissioned PFI projects expect to earn with reference to the scale of risk being borne by these investors, and explores the sources of the identified excess via an examination of the structure and competitiveness of the PFI financing markets. The study therefore comprises two substantial empirical components. The first draws on the financial models of 11 NHS PFI projects to describe and evaluate the return to investors. Cost of capital benchmarks, constructed on the basis of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, are used as comparators to assess the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for the 11 projects, and as discount rates to calculate Benefit-Cost Ratios. Both measures agree on the presence of significant excess returns for investors on each project – with large “spreads” between the IRRs and the corresponding cost of capital benchmarks, and high Benefit-Cost Ratio scores. The second empirical component provides an analysis of the structure and competitiveness of the market for private finance. Two indicators of this market’s structure – concentration and entry/exit rates – in addition to the dynamics of the procurement process are the focus of measurement and evaluation. It is demonstrated that: (a) the market for private finance in this sector is an oligopoly, (b) market share is highly concentrated when assessed against UK regulatory standards, and (c) churn and market penetration rates are extremely low. Constraints on the competitiveness of the market are identified as: (i) the low number of bidders; and (ii) the extensive period of non-competitive bidding in the final phase of the procurement process, in which the output specifications of projects are materially altered. The thesis concludes that recent reforms to the procurement process have been ineffective, and the problems underpinning a lack of competitive pressure in procurement may be insuperable, given the inherent complexity of this form of investment and the need to secure external financing. For the NHS, this source of cost inefficiency implies substantial opportunity costs (i.e. foregone opportunities for additional capital investment) and excess costs (i.e. a higher than necessary burden on the revenue budget). A stronger regulatory regime, incorporating regulation of the profitability of PFI projects for investors, is required to minimise the threat posed by this policy to the financial sustainability of the NHS.

From different points of view, including Resource-Based Theory, Resource-Advantage Theory, and Structure Conduct Performance, the research was firstly discussed if the iron and steel enterprises would have different competitive advantages with different strategy segmentations. In addition, how investors make investment decision and how management level distribute resource into which financial indicator in order to strengthen competitive advantage were discussed as well. The research was collected financial data (from year 2004 to 2008) of 40 domestic iron and steel companies which are listed in public stock market (including OTC) as sample pool. The sample pool was segmented into four groups, such as products, value chain of upstream to downstream, and top-to-down consolidated strategic groups. Competitive advantage was classified by average of equity return ratios of shareholders, and financial ratios were applied to analyze the source of competitive advantage in iron and steel industry. Firstly, started to analyze financial ratios of each group by description statistic method and implemented factor analysis to figure out common factors. Furthermore, from investors point of view, to clarify how those factors to be reflected on operating performance by applying multiple regression analysis. Moreover, from business operating level¡¦s eyes, to distinguish enterprises with competitive advantage from each strategic group. The result was shown that each strategic group has different sources of competitive advantage. Therefore, recommendations of the research are listed: I. Investors should invest in enterprises with better current ratio, quick ratio, and guarantee of multiplied interest. II. Aggressive investors should invest in enterprises that have stainless steel products and consolidated business from upstream, mid-stream, to downstream. III. Conservative investors should invest in enterprises that have plate steel products and consolidated business from upstream, mid-stream, to downstream. IV. In order to create resources of competitive advantage, management level of each strategic group should increase financial signals as first priority: 1. Plate steel and downstream enterprises: value-added of unit salary and percentage of employee bonus out of profit. 2. Bar iron, stainless enterprises with consolidation of upstream to mid-stream and top-to ¡Vdown conformity: current ratio, quick ratio and guarantee of multiplied interest. 3. Alloy steel enterprises: ratio of debt out of net assets, percentage of loan, stock and account receivable out of net assets ratio, and net assets out of assets ratio.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Energy is considered the engine of socio-economic development of industrial society. It is present in all stages of production. Thus, the constant threat of lack of energy makes the projection of development policies impracticable. Brazil is a country that tries to be inserted in the global economy and it cannot lose competitiveness because of lack of available energy. It is a country with a vast territorial extensions and a favorable climate to the production of different types of renewable fuel sources, especially the biodiesel, which strengthens the agribusiness by creating a new market for oleaginous plants, and reduces dependence on petroleum derivatives. The objective of this research is to evaluate the productive chain of biodiesel, in the state of the Rio Grande do Sul, located in Southern Region of Brazil, it is located among the main producing states. The research was based on the model structureconduct-performance (SCP), taking in consideration the transactions that occur between suppliers of raw materials and producers, and still the peculiarities of the agro-industrial systems in an environment subject to the external shocks. To allow one better understanding of the information collected during field research, the tool of modeling of information Integration Definition Language 0 (IDEF0) was used, it serves as the base to structure the analyzed environment. The results showed that the production of biodiesel is characterized as incipient and strong due to the actions of the federal government, what generates a series of market imperfections that, consequently, generate the productive inefficiency for sector. Its demand totally based on sales through public auctions, with few buyers. The crucial variables of dispute in the market are price and product quality (adequacy to the specifications). There are very expectations on the opening of the exportation market, as well as the release of the commercialization of the production really competitive levels and conditions. The main strain for the new firms is the raw material attainment in amount and the determined specifications to keep the quality of the final product. It became clear that despite the high competitiveness of the sector, in proportion to the limited market, there is certain level of cooperation and exchange of information among the organizations, mainly when it deals with a common problem to the sector as a whole. The cooperation is narrower and of active form among the firms and suppliers of raw material, that is justified by the necessity to guarantee the amount and the quality of materials programmed. For this, there are technical aid programs of incentive to alternative cultures, making an effort to diversify the productive matrix. / A energia é considerada o motor do desenvolvimento sócio-econômico das sociedades industriais, pois está presente em todas as etapas de produção. Deste modo, a constante expectativa de falta de energia torna a projeção de políticas de desenvolvimento impraticáveis. O Brasil é um país que procura estar inserido na economia global e não pode perder competitividade pela falta de energia disponível, devido as vastas extensões territoriais e clima favorável à produção de diferentes tipos de combustíveis de origens renováveis, com destaque para o biodiesel, que fortalece o agronegócio, por criar um novo mercado para as oleaginosas, e diminui a dependência dos derivados de petróleo. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar a cadeia produtiva do biodiesel, no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, localizado na Região Sul do Brasil, que está entre os principais estados produtores. O estudo teve como base o modelo Estrutura-Conduta-Desempenho (ECD), levando em consideração as transações que ocorrem entre os fornecedores de matéria-prima e produtores, e ainda as particularidades dos sistemas agroindustriais num ambiente sujeito aos choques externos. Para permitir uma melhor compreensão das informações coletadas durante a pesquisa de campo, foi utilizada a ferramenta de modelagem de informações Integration Definition Language 0 (IDEF0), que serve de base para estruturar o ambiente analisado. Os resultados mostraram que a cadeia de produção do biodiesel é caracterizada como incipiente e fortemente ligada às ações do governo federal, resultando na ineficiência produtiva de todo o setor. O comércio de biodiesel é realizado mediante leilões públicos, com poucos compradores. As variáveis cruciais de disputa do mercado são preço e qualidade do produto (adequação às especificações). Existe grande expectativa quanto à abertura do processo de exportação. O principal gargalo para as firmas entrantes é a obtenção de matéria-prima em quantidade e especificações determinadas para manter a qualidade do produto final. Destaca-se ainda que apesar da alta competitividade do setor, proporcionada pelo mercado restrito, existe certo nível de cooperação e troca de informações entre as organizações, principalmente quando se trata de um problema comum ao setor como um todo. A cooperação é mais estreita e de forma mais participativa na relação entre as firmas e os fornecedores de matéria-prima, que é justificada pela necessidade de garantir a quantidade e a qualidade de insumos programada. Para isso, existem programas de auxílio técnico, de incentivo a culturas alternativas, buscando diversificar a matriz produtiva.

A Study On Taiwan’s Management Consulting Industry ~ An Application Of The Structure-Conduct-Performance Analysis Student: Hui-Wen Chang Advisor: Dr. Yung-Chien Lou ABSTRACT Among the service industries, management consultancy is the most prominent due to its importance for the prosperity and competitiveness of enterprises. Therefore, the motivation of carrying out this study is to explore ways to facilitate the successful development of management consulting industry and ultimately revive Taiwan’s economy. The focus of this study is concentrated on the characteristics of Taiwan’s management consulting industry by understanding its evolvement path, current condition, composition of five competitive forces, and its organization economic model to discover the industry’s structure, behavior pattern of participants and overall performance. This study also aims at identifying fundamental causes of the industry’s long-lasting problems and factors that hinder the implementation of the most frequently proposed recommendations in the past two decades. Through the application of S-C-P paradigm and the feedback from industry experts, this study concludes that the most frequently raised pressing issues of Taiwan’s management consulting industry are actually symptoms of the industry’s unique structure with 88% of industry participants employed fewer than 10 people (i.e. the cause), which reflects the influence of the industry’s low entry barrier, as well as the nature of management consultation knowledge, mindset of consultants and clients’ behavior. And pertaining to factors hindering the implementations of most frequently proposed recommendations in the past 20 years, this study comes to the conclusion that lacking of legislation, characteristics of management consultation services, mindset of industry participants, and clients’ true needs are major issues adding difficulties to the execution of various recommendations proposed. Last but not least, this study also proposes several criteria to enhance the effectiveness of recommendations proposed by previous studies.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-09-12T13:09:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexander Homenko Neto.pdf: 4798964 bytes, checksum: 81e55843af7994e6fd9893443654f01b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-12T13:09:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexander Homenko Neto.pdf: 4798964 bytes, checksum: 81e55843af7994e6fd9893443654f01b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The interrelation between the three strategy approaches- Structure-Conduct-Performance, Resource- Based View and New Institutional Economics- has permeated recent debates in the field of Strategic Management, as these approaches hold a broader theoretical scope to analyze the firm performance. This research aims to join the three strategy perspectives to explain the heterogeneity of performance of the Brazilian international film co-production in the external market. In this light, the research applies the quantitative and qualitative method to collect and analyze the data. The first stage of the research adopted the method of Correspondence Analysis to conduct an exploratory study through the analysis of a secondary data, involving 96 co-productions. The following stage selected the firms of the multiple case studies examined through semi-structured interviews. The chief findings indicate that the main drivers of performance heterogeneity are: i) network; ii) reputation; iii) regulatory environment; iv) know-how; v) demand conditions; and vi) normative environment / A interrelação das três perspectivas em estratégia - Estrutura-Concorrência-Desempenho, da Visão-Baseada em Recursos e da Nova Economia Institucional - tem permeado os recentes debates no campo da Gestão Estratégica por ter a seu favor um arcabouço teórico de escopo mais amplo para analisar o desempenho das firmas. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo articular as três perspectivas em estratégia para explicar a heterogeneidade de desempenho, no mercado externo, das coproduções cinematográficas internacionais brasileiras. Utiliza-se de métodos quantitativo e qualitativo para coleta e análise dos dados. Na primeira etapa, adota-se o método da Análise de Correspondência para um estudo exploratório a partir de dados secundários que compreendem 96 coproduções. Segue-se com a seleção de empresas para o estudo de casos múltiplos, nos quais a coleta de dados efetiva-se com entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os achados sugerem que os principais direcionadores da heterogeneidade de desempenho são: i) redes de relacionamento; ii) reputação; iii) ambiente regulativo; iv) experiência; v) condições de demanda; e vi) ambiente normativo

A crescente preocupação mundial com o manejo dos recursos florestais tem exercido grande pressão nos ambientes extrativistas e industriais ligados à base produtiva silvícola. Em vista da dificuldade de se estabelecer quais empresas e produtores adotam padrões produtivos ambientalmente sustentáveis, o uso das certificações tem ganhado notoriedade, funcionando como mecanismo de sinalização de comportamento mercadologicamente valorizado. Este cenário representa empiricamente teorizações da Economia da Informação em um ambiente agroindustrial específico, apresentando ferramentas de emissão de sinais como potenciais redutores da assimetria de informação presente na estrutura econômica de comércio. Contudo, permanecem questionamentos sobre como este uso de certificações e conseqüente melhoria da disponibilidade informacional podem impactar sobre as firmas adotantes desta estratégia. Relacionando esta situação com elementos da Economia Industrial (abordagem Estrutura-Conduta-Desempenho) e caracterizando a sinalização como um elemento de Conduta, esta pesquisa se propõe a verificar empiricamente potenciais impactos desta estratégia de atuação no Desempenho resultante. Como objeto específico de estudo, elegeu-se, dentro da indústria silvícola brasileira, o setor de papel e celulose, dada a sua relevância econômica para o agronegócio brasileiro. O método de análise de desenvolve através de modelos econométricos que buscam estabelecer e mensurar relações de influência entre a evolução de adoção de certificações de manejo florestal sustentável no desempenho exportador agregado do setor para o período 1995- 2008 (dados mensais), visto que a prática de comércio internacional potencializa a disponibilidade assimétrica de informações. Os resultados encontrados são parcialmente conclusivos em direção à sustentação da hipótese de que o uso de certificações tem influências positivas sobre o desempenho de comércio exterior da indústria brasileira de papel e celulose. / World’s increasing concern regarding forest resources management has pressured the producers and industries connected to forestry activities. In face of the difficulty to differentiate agents’ productive patterns of behavior towards forests, the use of sustainable forest management certifications is becoming increasingly relevant, working as a supposedly market valued signaling device. This scenario represents empirically in a specific agroindustrial environment the theories developed in Information Economics, presenting signal emission tools as potential reducers of commercial information asymmetry. However, questions regarding how the use of these certifications and the consequent improvement of information availability impact on firms which adopt this strategy remain. Relating this situation with the elements of Industrial Economics (more specifically the Structure-Conduct-Performance approach) and defining the signaling behavior as a Conduct pattern, this research proposes an analysis of the possible impacts of this strategy in the resulting Performance. As object of study, the Brazilian Pulp & Paper (P&P) industry is chosen, given its economic importance for the country’s forest and agribusiness sectors. The methodology to develop this verification is based on econometric regression models, aiming to establish and measures influences between the sustainable forest management certifications implementation evolution in the aggregated exporting performance of the Brazilian P&P industry for the period 1995-2008 (monthly data), since the international trade is expected to rise the levels of information asymmetry and hence the value of signals. Results allow partial acceptance of the hypothesis that the use of certifications has positive influences on Brazilian P&P industry’s international trade performance.

A crescente preocupação mundial com o manejo dos recursos florestais tem exercido grande pressão nos ambientes extrativistas e industriais ligados à base produtiva silvícola. Em vista da dificuldade de se estabelecer quais empresas e produtores adotam padrões produtivos ambientalmente sustentáveis, o uso das certificações tem ganhado notoriedade, funcionando como mecanismo de sinalização de comportamento mercadologicamente valorizado. Este cenário representa empiricamente teorizações da Economia da Informação em um ambiente agroindustrial específico, apresentando ferramentas de emissão de sinais como potenciais redutores da assimetria de informação presente na estrutura econômica de comércio. Contudo, permanecem questionamentos sobre como este uso de certificações e conseqüente melhoria da disponibilidade informacional podem impactar sobre as firmas adotantes desta estratégia. Relacionando esta situação com elementos da Economia Industrial (abordagem Estrutura-Conduta-Desempenho) e caracterizando a sinalização como um elemento de Conduta, esta pesquisa se propõe a verificar empiricamente potenciais impactos desta estratégia de atuação no Desempenho resultante. Como objeto específico de estudo, elegeu-se, dentro da indústria silvícola brasileira, o setor de papel e celulose, dada a sua relevância econômica para o agronegócio brasileiro. O método de análise de desenvolve através de modelos econométricos que buscam estabelecer e mensurar relações de influência entre a evolução de adoção de certificações de manejo florestal sustentável no desempenho exportador agregado do setor para o período 1995- 2008 (dados mensais), visto que a prática de comércio internacional potencializa a disponibilidade assimétrica de informações. Os resultados encontrados são parcialmente conclusivos em direção à sustentação da hipótese de que o uso de certificações tem influências positivas sobre o desempenho de comércio exterior da indústria brasileira de papel e celulose. / World’s increasing concern regarding forest resources management has pressured the producers and industries connected to forestry activities. In face of the difficulty to differentiate agents’ productive patterns of behavior towards forests, the use of sustainable forest management certifications is becoming increasingly relevant, working as a supposedly market valued signaling device. This scenario represents empirically in a specific agroindustrial environment the theories developed in Information Economics, presenting signal emission tools as potential reducers of commercial information asymmetry. However, questions regarding how the use of these certifications and the consequent improvement of information availability impact on firms which adopt this strategy remain. Relating this situation with the elements of Industrial Economics (more specifically the Structure-Conduct-Performance approach) and defining the signaling behavior as a Conduct pattern, this research proposes an analysis of the possible impacts of this strategy in the resulting Performance. As object of study, the Brazilian Pulp & Paper (P&P) industry is chosen, given its economic importance for the country’s forest and agribusiness sectors. The methodology to develop this verification is based on econometric regression models, aiming to establish and measures influences between the sustainable forest management certifications implementation evolution in the aggregated exporting performance of the Brazilian P&P industry for the period 1995-2008 (monthly data), since the international trade is expected to rise the levels of information asymmetry and hence the value of signals. Results allow partial acceptance of the hypothesis that the use of certifications has positive influences on Brazilian P&P industry’s international trade performance.

A área de cultivos de sequeiro no Uruguai quadriplicou-se na ultima década como consequência dos aumentos nos preços das commodities, do crescimento da soja e da rápida consolidação da lógica empresarial na produção de grãos. A conduta das principais empresas agrícolas mudou a realidade do setor, aumentando a concentração da terra e deslocando outras atividades. Novas regiões começaram a ser utilizadas para a agricultura e o incremento da demanda pelos arrendamentos da terra elevou os preços e dificultou o acesso a este recurso. Utilizando como referencial teórico o paradigma Estrutura-Conduta-Desempenho da Organização Industrial, a pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de identificar e analisar como as variáveis da conduta empresarial afetaram os resultados, consolidando assim o processo de expansão agrícola no Uruguai. Foram realizadas entrevistas com experts visando identificar as empresas a serem entrevistadas, das quais seis responderam sobre as suas estratégias e resultados no período 2004/05 a 2008/09. Os dados foram analisados com ferramentas de estatística descritiva, matrizes de correlações e pela construção de modelos de regressão com dados em painel, visando identificar variáveis da conduta que explicassem a expansão da área e da produção, além das variações na produtividade e nas margens líquidas por hectare. Os modelos foram testados em três subgrupos de variáveis, aquelas pertencentes à totalidade da empresa, à produção de soja e do trigo. Os resultados demonstram que a maior distribuição dos sistemas de produção nas regiões do Uruguai e a proporção de terra arrendada tiveram efeito estatisticamente significativo e positivo na expansão da área e da produção, indicando a importância destas duas estratégias nos resultados. Apesar de que o arrendamento da terra tenha permitido gerar incrementos na área e na produção do bloco de empresas, teve um efeito negativo na produtividade da soja. Isto confirmou a necessidade de desenvolver mais eficientes processos de produção, aprimorando as parcerias com os proprietários da terra, perspectivas que foram apontadas pelas empresas. Após a realização desta pesquisa, estima-se que a continuidade da expansão agrícola ocorra a partir de ajustes nos processos de produção mais do que por novos aumentos importantes da superfície. / Uruguayan dry land cropping has quadrupled in the last decade as a result of important increases in commodities prices, the growth in soybean cropping, and the fast consolidation of grain production enterprise models. The actions of the most important agricultural companies have modified the sector’s reality, increasing the land concentration and relocating other activities. New regions began being used for cropping and the increase in demand for land to lease resulted in higher rental values and more difficulty of access to this resource. Using the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm of the Industrial Organization as a theoretical reference, the research was carried out with the aim of identifying and analyzing how enterprise conduct variables affected the results, therefore consolidating the agricultural expansion process in Uruguay. Expert interviews were carried out, with the aim of identifying the companies to be later analyzed. Six of them reported their strategies and results in the period between 2004/05 and 2008/09. Data processing and analysis were undertaken through the descriptive statistic study, correlations matrices and through the construction of panel data regression models. This was developed with the aim of identifying enterprise conduct variables which explained the area and productive expansions, apart from productivity variations and net margins per hectare. Models were evaluated in three sub-groups of variables; those that belonged to the whole company and the ones related to wheat or soybean production. Results indicate that an increase in territorial diversification of production areas in the different Uruguayan regions, and the proportion of leased land had a statistically significant and positive effect on area and production expansion, which indicates the significance of these two strategies in the companies’ results. Although land leasing allowed an increase in production and area, it had a negative effect on the soybean productivity. This situation reaffirms the need to develop more efficient production processes, by improving relationships with land owners, a fact that was rated as highly relevant by the companies. Through this research, it can be conclude that the continuity of agricultural expansion will take place through production-process improvements, rather than through significant increases in the cropping areas. / La superficie de cultivos de secano en Uruguay se cuadriplicó en la última década como resultado de importantes aumentos en los precios de las commodities, del crecimiento de la soja y de la rápida consolidación de modelos empresariales en la producción de granos. La conducta de las principales empresas agrícolas modificó la realidad del sector, aumentando la concentración de la tierra y reubicando otras actividades. Nuevas regiones comenzaron a ser utilizadas para la agricultura y el incremento de la demanda por arrendamientos de tierra elevó sus precios y dificultó el acceso a este recurso. Utilizando como referencial teórico el paradigma Estructura-Conducta-Resultados de la Organización Industrial, el trabajo fue realizado con el objetivo de identificar y analizar como las variables de la conducta empresarial afectaron los resultados, consolidando así el proceso de expansión agrícola en Uruguay. Fueron realizadas entrevistas a experts, con el objetivo de identificar a las empresas que posteriormente fueron analizadas. Seis de ellas respondieron sobre sus estrategias y resultados en el período comprendido entre la zafra 2004/05 y 2008/09. El procesamiento y análisis de los datos se hizo a partir del estudio de estadística descriptiva, matrices de correlaciones y a partir de la construcción de modelos de regresión con datos de panel. Esto fue realizado con el objetivo de identificar variables de la conducta empresarial que explicaron la expansión del área y la producción, además de las variaciones en la productividad y en los márgenes neto por hectárea. Los modelos fueron evaluados en tres subgrupos de variables, aquellas que pertenecían a la totalidad de la empresa y las relacionadas con la producción de soja o de trigo. Los resultados indican que la mayor diversificación territorial de los sistemas de producción en las diferentes regiones de Uruguay y la proporción de tierra arrendada tuvieron un efecto estadísticamente significativo y positivo en la expansión del área y la producción, lo que indica la importancia de estas dos estrategias en los resultados de las empresas. A pesar de que el arrendamiento de la tierra permitió aumentar la producción y área, tuvo un efecto negativo en la productividad de la soja. Esto situación reafirma la necesidad de desarrollar procesos de producción más eficientes, mejorando las relaciones con los propietarios de la tierra, situaciones que fueron evaluadas como muy relevantes por las empresas. A partir de este trabajo se concluye que la continuidad de la expansión agrícola tendrá lugar a partir de mejoras en los procesos de producción y no por nuevos aumentos significativos en la superficie.