Agro-industrial system of sheep meat in western Paraná

Abstract

This study analyzes how institutional, organizational and technological environments influence the competitiveness, business strategies, and performance of agro-industrial system of sheep meat in western Paraná, Brazil. To do that, the prospective structural analysis (PSA) was applied; it is a method, in the matrix form, of analysis of relationships between the variables that constitute the studied system and those that belong to its explanatory context. The concepts of new institutional economics and the model of systemic relationships were also applied. They determined the variables used in the PSA. The results suggest that the meat sheep farming lies in an unstable and highly competitive environment, whose most influential variable – and at the same time, highly dependent – is the illegal slaughter. Thus, the institutional environment must be improved, and improvements in the agro-industrial system of sheep meat must be started. The lack of specific legislations, high taxes and tax evasion greatly influence and undermine the competitiveness of the sector. In order for significant changes to occur, it is necessary, among other factors, that the coordination of the system is boosted by agro-industries by developing means of mutual cooperation between industry and producers.