Integração espacial de mercados na presença de custos de transação: um estudo para o mercado de boi gordo em Minas Gerais e São Paulo

The analysis of market integration of agricultural commodities based on price information are limited because the effects of transaction costs are not considered in the adjustment process. The main objective of this paper was to estimate the possible transaction costs impacts on market integration of beef cattle between the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. It was estimated a Threshold Vector Error Correction Model (TVEC model) using monthly price data for the period from January 1972 to August 2005. The results indicated the presence of threshold cointegration implying that transaction costs have important effect on the price adjustment process.