The present paper aims at analyzing the impact of institutional changes which happened after 1990 on the coordination of the two basic tiers (wheat production and milling) of the Brazilian wheat chain. Among these changes, we can mention the deregulation of the wheat sector and the opening of Brazilian economy, amplified later by the MERCOSUR agreement. As a result, a deep change on both the vertical and horizontal coordination mechanisms was observed. The economic opening and the fact that the Estate is no longer the coordinator of wheat transactions have brought governance mechanisms used abroad to the Brazilian market. A change was also seen on the role played by representative organizations, which focused their activities completely on representing the interests of public agencies which regulated the sector. Nevertheless, it was possible to verify heavy dependence between these new forms of coordination and the institutional environment which regulated the sector until 1990.
Wheat; Institutional environment; Coordination of agri-food chains
