Transaction cost index to agricultural export ports

The Brazilian port scenario has undergone several changes in recent decades, from the decentralization of activities to the new exploration and leasing criteria for the private initiative of cargo handling terminals in public ports. This study aims to identify the transaction costs in the port sector for the export of agricultural products (soybean and ethanol) and develop a transaction cost index (TCI). The results showed that ethanol was in the highest category of transaction costs reaching 66.2%. We concluded that the assets, which were evaluated for both products, present specificities ranging from medium to high that lead to the highest transaction costs in the port sector, thereby promoting the adoption of new strategies to mitigate the risk associated with transactions, such as long-term contracts and partnerships.