Statistics to identify asset specificity

an analysis of transaction costs in the cattle market

Abstract

This paper seeks to introduce a way, which is not only subjective and theoretical, but practical to assess how specific the bovine asset is. Aiming to confront the indices already determined in the market with the dynamics of prices at cattle fairs, which are held in the inland of Alagoas. When using average statistical tests as a way to highlight the specificity, significant divergences were found in the averages of animals that had different purposes, as well as in the aspect of showing some kind of breed characteristic, however for their morphology, and therefore cattle weight and eventual yield of carcass, although the tests were on average with values ??below the index, their average values were not statistically significant. Thus, the paper was able to show the existence of specificities in cattle, even if of the general type, through an original way, which can allow given the importance of this theme, the proposal of works as the same purpose for other animals tradable in the scope of agribusiness, as well as in locations with a larger market volume that make such evidence more significant.

Key words: Asset specificities. Transaction costs. Institutionalism. Agriculture. Economy.