ECONOMIC ESSAYS ON RURAL CREDIT POLICY
Rural Credit, Locational Quotient, Regional Effects, Economics of Public Policy.
In a context in which public policies aim to foster the growth of the agricultural sector, this study examines the impact of rural credit on soybean production in the Brazilian Midwest. Thus, this theme topic that returns to the economists' research agendas, since increasing challenges arise regarding the increase in the offer of agricultural products, in order to meet a demand encouraged by income increases in several countries. The analyzes were developed mainly from information on municipal agricultural production and the volume of rural credit destined for costing and investment activities, in the years 2009 and 2017, for the 467 municipalities in the Midwest region, which are consolidated as a national agricultural granary. The location quotient was used to verify the level of relative concentration of the rural credit market and soybean production in the municipalities. Then, the regional and rural credit effects on soybean production were estimated using an econometric regression. The results show that the granting of rural credit has positive and significant effects on soybean production, with the higher result for costing credit compared to investment credit. In this scenario, the rural credit policy remains an essential instrument for governmental stimulus to the agricultural sector.