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In the article the economic and legal problems connected with small and medium-sized commodity producers’ credit have been analyzed. It has been proved that in Ukraine, unlike foreign countries, the mechanism of easing credits remains virtually the only financial instrument aimed at developing credit relations in the agrarian sector of the economy. It is noted that in the mentioned sphere the provisions of the Ukrainian Law «On State Support to Agriculture in Ukraine» are not fully implemented. In particular, the requirements concerning the size of the credit subsidy, the possibility of obtaining compensation for long-term credits and credits received in foreign currency aren’t performed. Taking into account the aforementioned, as well as reducing the amount of financing of the corresponding state program by 4.5 times, the authors have concluded that these legislative requirements are mainly declarative. Thus, ensuring in practice the access to the cheap credit resources for small and medium-sized agricultural producers shall become one of the important tasks of the state agricultural policy.

Copyright of Financial & Credit Activity: Problems of Theory & Practice is the property of University of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to provide the overall state of rural finance in the Kosovo region, its status, the impact of credit lending, the role of banking institutions and governance in rural finance expenditures, and the improvement, barriers, and challenges throughout the years. The objective measure of access to rural finance is variable which help as to measure credit lending and the portfolio level of agriculture credit to find managing in financial institution performance. Therefore, the results show that the banks give more access than micro finance institutions at summation of large loans for agriculture, but at other side banks give less compared to micro financial institutions at summation of small loans for agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the cross-regional variation of interest rates in China in the 1930s. Based on county-level data from the Buck (1941) rural surveys, we examine factors that may have influenced rural interest rates in pre-1949 China. Since the quality of institutions that define property rights and facilitate contract enforcement is important for such transactions as land tenancy arrangements, we treat land tenancy rate (or percentage of owner-farmers) as a proxy for institutional quality. Contrary to the popular belief among historians and economists that usury or high interest rates caused persistent poverty, we find that while the monopoly-exploitation hypothesis has little explanatory power, a region's institutional quality and income level are persistent and significant determinants of interest rates. Thus, poverty is a key driver of high rates of interest. Economic growth and the development of market institutions are crucial for lowering high interest rates and combating usury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to debate the character of the rural credit's policy in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, adopting as analysis criteria the socio-spatial formation. The support of this investigation is composed, besides the analysis of statistical data about the access to credit and land-ownership structure, mapped according to the subdivisions of the mesorregions of IBGE in the state, as well as the comprehension about the imbrications between money/credit/territory and the State as social and political actor. At the end, it is argued that this study, even without aspiring to bring together the whole socio-spatial formation of this scale of analysis, without debating about this issue, however, it would be unlikely the comprehension of the dependent capitalism. Such dependency is evident from the relation about an economy based on primary and exporting sector, reaffirming the land capitalist monopoly, being the rural credit's policy in Mato Grosso do Sul its axis in this socio-spatial formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegócio is the property of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegocio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Family farmers are important actors to sustain food security and job generation in Brazilian rural areas. The National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF) is the main public program offering microcredits to family farmers to foster sustainable production and reduce the poverty gap. While poverty and income inequality prevail in the Amazon, credits seem to target wealthier livestock farmers, and neglect smallholders engaged in crop production. This paper assesses the factors influencing the monetary amount of credit received at the regional level and argues that stable production systems and strong credit mechanisms could facilitate market access, knowledge transfer, and technology adoption. A spatial Durbin error model is utilized to analyze the factors determining the credit received while controlling for spatial correlations in livestock and agricultural systems in 103 microregions, composing the Brazilian Legal Amazon. To complement the quantitative estimations, we conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with key informants from technical assistance, scholars, and banks managers. Results suggest a geographical interdependence of PRONAF microcredit allocation, where wealthier farmers steadily access markets and credits. Microregions where commercial banks are present and with higher production values receive higher microcredits, strengthening the economic advantages of wealthier farmers located in those regions. Therefore, in order to improve credit allocation, political actions should focus on targeting poor and vulnerable farmers lacking social networks, stable markets and financial investments. • The study exams credit acquisition for family farming while controlling for spatial correlations in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. • Credits are not independently distributed, and are influenced by spatial characteristics of neighboring microregions. • Credit history and bank type are possibly a result of consolidated arrangements which support wealthier farmers. • Political efforts should target the integration of poorer and vulnerable farmers unable to acquire credits [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the consequences of credit constraints on rural household consumption in China. Based on a unique rural finance and consumption survey, the authors first identify the credit constraint status of rural households from formal financial institutions. Then, they apply an endogenous switching regression model to compare the consumption responses to household production inputs for credit constrained and non-constrained households. The estimation results reveal that the credit constraint could result in the crowding out effect of the aggregate household consumption from its production inputs. Nonetheless, similar to the non-constrained households, the credit constraint households are capable of smoothing their necessary consumption.

Micro-finance institutions in Colombia, which traditionally have been examples of financial inclusion, can contribute to the government's efforts to reduce the effects of the armed conflict. Their participation with respect to a special group of individuals who want to rejoin society means they must identify the challenges this effort implies and design financial and nonfinancial products that do not compromise their equity but are in keeping with the profile of the interested parties. The idea, in this respect, is to replace their activity as participants in the armed conflict with activities involving business enterprises. The article defends the thesis that microfinance institutions (MFIs), despite their nature as private entities, can support government policies for the post-conflict period by expanding the coverage of the micro-financial services being provided in urban and rural areas. The methodology that was used involves a description and analysis of theoretical elements that support the existence of MFIs and the activities they develop, coupled with collection and analysis of information about the environment in which they render their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Credit rating is an assessment performed by lenders or financial institutions to determine a person’s creditworthiness based on the proposed terms of the loan. Frequently, these institutions use rating models to obtain estimates for the probabilities of default for their clients (companies, organizations, government, and individuals) and to assess the risk of credit portfolios. Numerous statistical and data mining methods are used to develop such models. In this paper, the potential of a multicriteria decision-aiding approach is studied. As a first step, the proposed methodology models the problem as a multicriteria evaluation process with multiple and in some cases, conflicting dimensions, which are integrated to derive sound recommendation for DMs. The second step of the methodology involves building a multicriteria outranking model based on ELECTRE III method. An evolutionary algorithm is used to exploit the outranking model. The methodology is applied to a small-scale financial institution operating in the agricultural sector. We compare loan applications based on their attributes and the credit profile of the customer or credit applicant. Our methodology offers the flexibility of combining heterogeneous information together with the preferences of decision makers (DMs), generating both relative and fixed rules for selecting the best loan applications among new and existing customers, which is an improvement over traditional methods The results reveal that outranking models are well suited to credit rating, providing good ranking results and suitable understanding on the relative importance of the evaluation criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to 2013 statistics from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (EC-LAC 2013), a mere 3.03% of the total agricultural area in the region uses some type of irrigation technology. Thus, there is a high degree of sub-utilization of existing hydric infrastructure given that the supply of irrigation capacity in many countries is greater than the calculated use (see Herrera et al. 2005; IICA 2011; CONAGUA 2014, among others). Nonetheless, there are a limited number of studies that characterize the factors affecting the adoption of irrigation by small and mid-sized farmers in the influence area of irrigation projects. This manuscript presents a novel empirical decision model applicable to irrigation adoption based on exogenous and endogenous factors in the context of LAC countries, which is solved through a binary equation system with latent variables. The main goals are to capture the effect that certain idiosyncratic variables, such as lack of credit access, can have over the decision of irrigation adoption; as well as the costs associated to private goods, financed through credit, which are necessary to access to the benefits of the provision of irrigation as a public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to verify the National Program of Support to Family Agriculture (PRONAF), showing its spatial configuration in the distribution of credit between Brazilian geographic regions, by means of investments and costs and by value range. For the study, data were collected from the Central Bank for the period from 2013 to 2016. The results show a certain parity in the distribution of contracts between states, even in the volume of resources an inequality in the distribution of credit was verified. Regarding the modalities, there was a discrepancy between the regions in the distribution of credit, both in the investment and in the costing modality. Among the regions, the Northeast is the least favored by the spatial distribution of the program credit, despite having a large number of contracts carried out by the program, which may have an impact on its development, given the important role played by this program in the dynamization of economic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current analysis examines the impact of rural credit on agricultural production between 2006 and 2014 within the context of government policies propping up the growth of agriculture, especially through specific schemes. The Vector Error Correction ( VEC) has been employed to analyze short and long term relationships. Results show that, in the long term, positive and more significant impacts on agricultural produce will occur by enlarging the plantation area, whereas, in the short term, increase will be subjected to investments in fertilizers and more machines and tools. On the other hand, credit's indirect effects on agricultural production should not be discarded, although rural credit was not a significant factor [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter examines the state of financial inclusion in rural China. It shows that despite China's efforts at being financially inclusive there is substantial variability across and within provinces. With strong reliance on electronic technologies, China's rural and farm communities use internet technologies only half as much as all users, and less than 2% access credit through the internet. From a policy perspective, China should address problems of financial education and rural credit access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegócio is the property of Brazilian Review of Economics & Agribusiness / Revista de Economia e Agronegocio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presents the historical evolution of agricultural social finance in the Bulgarian lands from the Ottoman Empire to the First World War. It is focused on the genesis, transformation and forms of long-term development of agricultural cooperative credit, its driving forces and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Ecosystem Approach to AVCF can offer a long-lasting path to rural credit in developing countries. • Credit flow is not only key for farmers, but all value chain actors in rural areas. • All value chain actors can leverage social and trade capital to generate transaction records and reduce transaction costs. In developing countries, smallholder farmers often lack long-lasting sources of credit. While traditional banking, microfinance, and cooperatives have addressed some financing gaps, Agricultural Value Chain Finance (AVCF) has attracted attention as it allows value chain actors to leverage social capital and satisfy their funding needs. To identify the driving factors for the development of AVCF, we analyze the role of non-farmer actors including banks, development organizations, agribusinesses, and academia using in-depth expert interviews. Following a Grounded Theory approach, we propose the Ecosystem Approach as a framework for establishing long-lasting AVCF schemes in developing countries based on three critical solutions: building financial platforms for value chain transaction records, implementing bundled services for the value chain, and evolving from a value chain to a value web approach. Our findings introduce six propositions that shed light on key factors for the development and longevity of financing schemes: i) the AVCF Ecosystem, ii) how AVCF schemes emerge, iii) social capital and value chain interactions, iv) culture and value chain characteristics, v) market risk, vi) transaction costs reduction. We find that AVCF can use social and trade capital to reduce transaction costs and mitigate risks related to quality, prices, and markets. In AVCF ecosystems, there are financial products for interlinked agricultural value chains with a balanced focus on all chain actors, no lock-in relationships between the lenders and the borrowers, and multiple benefits for participants. As the evolution towards an Ecosystem Approach offers a promising outlook for agricultural credit, future research should explore how policymakers and development agencies can support these schemes and how they can be used to increase financial access and equity in rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Para 2011, estavam previstos R$ 570 milhões ao Programa de Subvenção ao Prêmio do Seguro Rural (PSR), mas apenas R$ 253,4 milhões foram alocados ao Programa em função de contingenciamentos do governo. Apesar disso, foi possível segurar 5,6 milhões de hectares com uma importância segurada de R$ 7,3 bilhões. Mas qual deveria ser o volume de recursos direcionados ao PSR para que todo o crédito de custeio das lavouras pudesse ser coberto pelo mercado segurador? O estudo apresenta uma metodologia para calcular qual deve ser o valor orçamentário médio do PSR para cobrir cem por cento do custeio das lavouras. Para 2011, os resultados sugerem que o volume de recursos deveria ter sido quatro vezes maior do que o valor empenhado. Ademais, os resultados foram desagregados por estado e por culturas agrícolas. A importância do PSR para a massificação do seguro rural é indiscutível. Porém, além dos recursos do PSR estarem subdimensionados, outro problema ameaça a continuidade do Programa. Pelo terceiro ano consecutivo, o PSR tem sofrido graves contingenciamentos que têm impactado negativamente o mercado. Portanto, fica evidente a necessidade de maior esforço do governo federal em ampliar os recursos da subvenção e destiná-los única e integralmente ao PSR.In 2011, 570 million reais were estimated to be used in the Crop Insurance Premium Subsidy (PSR), but only 253.4 million reais was allocated to the Program. In spite of this fact, it was possible to insure 5.6 million hectares with a liability of 7.3 billion reais. In this context, what should be the amount of resources to the PSR in order to cover the total amount of rural credit by the insurance market? The study presents a methodology to calculate, on average, what should be the budget of the PSR to insure the rural credit. The results suggest that the amount of resources should have been four times greater than the committed value. Moreover, the results were divided by state and crop. The PSR plays an important role to the development of the crop insurance in Brazil. However, two problems remain unsolved: the budget is far beyond the desirable and it has been restricted over the last three years. Therefore, there is an evident need for greater commitment from the Brazilian government to expand the resources of the PSR and direct it unique and fully to the PSR.

Este artigo tem o objetivo de estudar o Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (Pronaf) nas suas linhas de crédito para custeio e investimento, com o intuito de investigar suas relações e interfaces com a agricultura familiar, utilizando-se de um estudo no Rio Grande do Sul (microrregião do Médio Alto Uruguai). A pergunta a ser respondia é: qual o tipo de fortalecimento que o Pronaf gera junto aos agricultores familiares? Para isso, se usa como base uma metodologia qualitativa, com a utilização de entrevistas semiestruturadas e se apoia nas argumentações com dados secundários de diversas fontes e pesquisas. Conclui-se que o Programa tem lógica dupla. De um lado, ele está financiando as atividades de produção habituais dos agricultores, como grãos e commodities agrícolas. De outro, há um processo de diversificação econômica das atividades produtivas, das pequenas criações, cultivos e de alimentos básicos ao consumo das famílias.This article aims to study the National Programme for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf) in their credit lines for costing and investment, in order to investigate their relationships and interfaces with the family farm, using it for a study in Rio Grande do Sul (Middle High Uruguay microregion). The question to be answered is: what kind of building that is generating Pronaf with family farmers? To do this, it was used a methodology based on qualitative, using semi-structured interviews and underpinned by arguments with secondary data from various sources and research. It is concluded that the program has a dual logic. On the one hand, it is financing production activities usual for farmers, such as grain and agricultural commodities. On the other hand, there is a process of economic diversification of productive activities, small livestock, crops and basic food for household consumption.

O crédito é um instrumento que fornece aos empreendedores os meios para desempenhar um papel ativo na economia. O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar os impactos econômicos do crédito rural na microrregião de Pirapora, sendo esta uma das sete microrregiões do norte de Minas Gerais. Os impactos das operações de crédito rural em relação ao PIB Total per capita e aos PIBs setoriais per capita foram identificados e analisados, além do seu possível efeito sobre o índice Mineiro de Responsabilidade Social (IMRS). Para tanto, foi utilizada a metodologia de dados em painel, considerando-se o período de 2000 a 2004. Foi possível perceber os impactos positivos do crédito rural sobre as atividades econômicas do setor agropecuário, principal beneficiado pelo crédito rural. Dado que o crédito rural proporciona liquidez na economia local, foi possível observar, ainda, os efeitos do crédito rural sobre outros setores. Os resultados indicam possível restrição no acesso ao crédito, ao serem verificados os efeitos diretos do crédito rural sobre o IMRS.Credit is an instrument that supplies the entrepreneurs ways to play an active role in the economy. The objective of this paper is to analyze the economic impacts of the rural credit in the microregion of Pirapora, one of the seven microregions in the north of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The impacts of rural credit regarding the total and by sector GDP per capita are measured and analyzed. In addition, the possible effects of rural credit on the índice Mineiro de Responsabilidade Social (IMRS - Minas Gerais State Social Responsibility Index) are identified. The panel data model is used, considering the period from 2000 to 2004. Results indicate that the agricultural sector is the main beneficiary of rural credit. Since the rural credit provides liquidity in the local economy, the effects of rural credit on other sectors are observed. A possible restriction on credit access is observed, when the direct effects of rural credit on the IMRS are measured.

O objetivo do artigo é analisar a evolução do PRONAF na região Sul do Brasil e, em especial, no Rio Grande do Sul, no período 1999-2010. A metodologia empregada foi a coleta de informações em bases de dados, como MDA, MAPA, BB e IBGE. O estudo identificou que, no início do período, os estados da região Sul do país receberam mais da metade dos recursos do PRONAF. Ao longo do período investigado, as demais regiões, em especial o Nordeste, passaram a receber maior volume de recursos, mas o Sul manteve sua posição de destaque. Nesta região, o Rio Grande do Sul ocupa o primeiro lugar em termos de número de contratos e de valores disponibilizados, empregando os recursos no custeio das lavouras, principalmente, nas culturas de milho e de soja.Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyze the evolution of PRONAF in the south region of Brazil, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, in the period 1999-2010. The methodology employed was based on information gathering on databases such as MDA, MAPA, BB and IBGE. The study identified that in the beginning of the period the states of the south region of the country received more than half of the resources from PRONAF. Throughout the period examined, the other regions, especially the northeast, increased their share of the total resources, but the south region kept its position as the main receiver. In this region, Rio Grande do Sul occupies the first place in terms of number of contracts and values received, employing the resources to plantation of, mainly, corn and soya beans.

The aim of this paper is to address the sources of technical and allocative inefficiency from a cross section sample of 308 beneficiaries of a market assisted land reform program, called "Cédula da Terra"; from five states in Northeastern region of Brazil. In spite of some differences on governance of the "Cédula da Terra"; in comparison with traditional expropriation land reform program, studies carried by Buainain et al. (2002) have shown small differences between then, regarding their social and economic characteristics. We believe that our results could be useful to identify the main problems of Brazilian land reform settlements. We estimated a potential production frontier following the methodology of Battese and Coelli (1995), Coelli et al. (1998) and applied econometric techniques to explain inefficiency. The results indicate the existence of technical and allocative inefficiency, which is identified mostly in situations where the presence of production for consumption is high. This is a result that shows how immature the agriculture activity is in most of Cédula da Terra Program settlements and the difficulty to overcome the limitations imposed by the initial condition of formation of agrarian reform, primarily in Northeastern region of Brazil.O objetivo desse artigo é caracterizar as fontes da ineficiência técnica e alocativa em um conjunto de 308 beneficiários de um programa de reforma agrária de mercado, chamado "Cédula da Terra";, distribuídos em cinco estados do Nordeste brasileiro. Estudos conduzidos por Buainain et al. (2002) mostraram existem poucas diferenças entre as características de beneficiários deste programa e dos programas tradicionais de reforma agrária por expropriação e que portanto, os resultados obtidos por este trabalho permitem visualizar as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos assentamentos no Brasil. Para medir eficiência, estimou-se uma função de produção potencial segundo a metodologia de Battese e Coelli (1995) e a partir disto, procurou-se explicar as razões da ineficiência (relativa) encontrada. Os resultados apontam para a existência de ineficiência técnica e alocativa que é identificada principalmente nas situações em que a presença de produção para consumo é elevada. Tratase de um resultado que revela a pouca maturidade da maioria dos lotes dos assentados do PCT e a dificuldade de superar as limitações impostas pela condição inicial de formação dos assentamentos de reforma agrária, principalmente na região nordeste do Brasil.

On the second half of the XIX century, the Portuguese governments believed that the development of the kingdom required the widening of the credit to agriculture and the fostering of communications and education. In 1866 and 1867, to achieve the first of those requirements, the government published two laws that allowed charity institutions like the Misericórdias to use their assets in order to create rural and industrial banks. In Viana do Castelo, the local Misericórdia took advantage of that law and created the Banco Agrícola e Industrial Vianense.

Com o passar dos anos, o Pronaf (Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar) foi se estruturando e ampliou significativamente seu campo de atuação. Além do aumento dos recursos, contratos e número de agricultores beneficiados, uma importante inovação desse programa foi a inclusão de novas linhas de financiamento, seja através da inserção de segmentos até então renegados pelas políticas agrícolas ou pelo reconhecimento e legitimação das atividades diferenciadas no meio rural, como é o caso da agroindustrialização em escala familiar. O objetivo central desse artigo é analisar a política de crédito rural direcionada às agroindústrias familiares (Pronaf-Agroindústria), trazendo em evidência a constituição, elaboração, implementação e os resultados alcançados por essa linha de financiamento. Além disso, é discutido o processo de reformulação das condições de acesso ao crédito ao longo dos últimos anos, problematizando o novo portfólio que se alcançou com a efetivação do Programa Mais Alimentos. Os resultados deste trabalho destacam a flexibilização das condições financeiras do Pronaf-Agroindústria (redução da taxa de juros, aumento do teto financiado e alastramento no público-alvo), alterando significativamente o foco de atuação da política (que deixa de ser exclusivamente as pequenas agroindústrias familiares e passa a englobar, também, as grandes cooperativas de leite).During the years, since its implementation, Pronaf has become more structured and has significantly increased its action field. Alongside the increase of resources, contracts, and number of benefited agriculturists, an important innovation of this program was the inclusion of new lines of funding, either through inserting segments until then, excluded from the agricultural policies, or including, recognizing, and legitimizing different activities performed in rural areas, such as familiar agroindrustialization. This paper aims to analyze the family agroindustry oriented rural credit policy (Pronaf-agroindustry), evidencing the constitution, elaboration, implementation and results of this line of funding. Moreover, the paper discusses the process of reformulation in the access conditions to the credit during recent years, analyzing the new portfolio constituted by a program called Mais Alimentos. The results of this paper highlight the flexibility of Pronaf-Agroindustry's financial conditions (reduction of interest rate, increase of the financed ceiling, and spread of the target public), which changes significantly the policy focus (it no longer benefits small family agroindustries exclusively, but also includes major milk cooperatives).

Uma análise das especificidades dos recursos financeiros públicos destinados à pecuária de corte constitui o objetivo desse trabalho, além de buscar subsídios para a compreensão do processo de modernização e desenvolvimento desta atividade no país. Em primeira instância, estabeleceram-se as relações de causas e efeitos ocorridas durante o processo histórico de conformação do segmento da pecuária de corte do país, procurando-se analisar as particularidades da distribuição do crédito rural. Num segundo momento, para o diagnóstico da situação atual e das perspectivas da produção de carne bovina no Brasil, foram sistematizadas neste trabalho, com o uso da análise de tendências, informações que visam conjugar uma visão sistêmica da atividade, a fim de se detectarem sintomas de mudanças na base técnica e mercadológica da atividade. A política creditícia, que historicamente teve sua importância, deve sofrer substituição por mecanismos alternativos de financiamento da atividade, em que vendas "hedgeadas", adiantamentos à produção e parcerias produtivas se tornarão a tônica do segmento.This paper traces some of the aspects of the public financial resources destined to the Brazilian beef cattle industry, beyond searching subsidies for the understanding of the modernization process and development of this activity in the country. The relations of causes and effects during the historical process of conformation of the segment of the beef cattle of the country, were established, with the particularitities of the distribution of the rural credit being analysed. For the diagnosis of the current situation and the perspectives of the production of bovine meat in Brazil, the information on this activity was systematized in this work, in order to detect symptoms of changes in the technical base and marketing activity. The credit politics, that historically had its importance, must be substituted by alternative mechanisms for financing of the activity, where "hedged sales", advances in the production and productive partnerships will become the tonic of the segment.

Os conflitos decorrentes de crises de endividamento rural e aqueles oriundos da excessiva concentração da posse de terras vêm sendo canalizados para o Executivo Federal, sem a intermediação das agencias de crédito, das representações locais dos produtores e dos movimentos sociais. A representação política destes interesses no Congresso e junto ao Executivo cria um viés fundamental pela socialização dos custos e maior concentração dos benefícios.Conflicts following from rural credit indebt ness and excessive concentration of land ownership have been dealt by the central executive office without the intermediation of local farmers organization and social movements. The political representation of these interests in Congress and close to the Executive bare a fundamental bias toward cost socialization and further concentration of benefits.

China's banking sector is dominated by four distinct organizational forms: policy banks (PBs), state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs), joint stock commercial banks (JSCBs), and rural credit cooperatives (RCCs). Economic analyses have especially focused on the development of bank efficiency and profitability over time. The equally important question, which of China's banking institutions promote economic growth, has not been explored using macroeconomic data. Our study uses a novel data set covering the period 1997-2008 and employs Granger causality tests to estimate the finance-growth nexus of each of these bank types. Our results show that SOCBs and RCCs do not Granger-cause GDP growth and that SOCBs even have a negative effect on manufacturing growth. By contrast, PBs and JSCBs promote economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of literature recognizing the importance of rural credit in developing countries has grown significantly in recent years. However, previous studies have mainly assumed that credit has a homogeneous impact on recipients. This paper contributes to the literature by further examining the impacts of credit on different groups of accessed households categorized by relative poverty, loan volumes, access to agricultural extension services and ethnicity in Vietnam. This paper uses data of 1338 households collected from the Vietnam Access Resources Household Survey in 2012. To increase the reliability of estimation measures, the distribution for the impact estimator is further constructed by applying the bootstrapping approach to the Propensity Score Matching. Results show that credit access affects recipient groups heterogeneously. Although there is strong evidence of positive impacts on non-farm income, credit has no effect on farm income, even for recipients with more annual visits to agricultural extension. While credit significantly increases total income, per capita income, and nonfarm income of the Kinh majority, it has little to no impact on those income components of ethnic minorities. Credit tends to have significantly positive impacts on household income of the better-off, the richest and those receiving larger credit volumes. Results imply that households with favorable economic conditions tend to benefit from accessing rural credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]