Institutional factors in the development of two coffee regions in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

The New Institutional Economics (NIE) has been used in the study of the economic development of countries and regions. In this study, the NIE was employed to analyze the differences in the development paths of two regions that share a specific context. Two coffee producing regions in Brazil were studied to find out if the institutional environment determined the differences observed between them. To this end, 169 surveys were applied to coffee growers in the two regions. The data analysis was carried out through logistic regression. The results indicate that the regions have different institutional environments. Statistically significant differences for the management of the properties were found, the level of education of producers, the way to commercialize the product and satisfaction with the cooperatives.