Dynamics and Competition in Uruguay

Economic Changes in the Last Decade

Abstract

Uruguayan agriculture has met major changes the last decade, which have been analyzed by the Disciplinary Group of Agrarian Economy, School of Agronomy. The question was: which are the factors that have an impact, and what explains the recent changes in the Uruguayan agricultural economy? We performed an analysis based on statistical data of the behavior of six relevant productive sectors of Uruguay’s agronomy: beef cattle, dairy, agriculture, rice, forestry and citrus, These six activities were studied according to four hypotheses that are related to the rent capture as a potential economic surplus. The four hypotheses that explain the changes are: 1. Demand of the international market and the high prices of the commodities, 2) The dynamics of Brazil and Argentina’s agricultural economy and their expansion towards Uruguay, 3) Investment and technological change, 4) Economic policies and institutional stability and security. These factors resulted in productive innovations and growth, which generated new investment and productive changes, and promoted new competitive advantages.