Gestão financeira, uso de tecnologias móveis e regionalidade: Um estudo com produtores rurais do Triângulo Mineiro

Abstract

The Brazilian agribusiness accounts for a significant part of GDP, as well as being the economic base and the main source of employment in most of the cities in the country. Given the relevance of this sector, it is a matter of interest for the rural producers to have effective management practices that provide conditions for them to obtain better results, encouraging their permanence in the activity. In addition, mobile technologies are becoming even more present in the daily lives of the population and are shown as useful resources for management, since they facilitate communication, reduce the need for displacements and optimize processes among other benefits. Considering that aspects of regionality can impact management and that the understanding of regional differences can contribute to an integrated development strategies that represent local diversities, this study aimed to identify factors related to the adoption of financial management practices by rural producers in the Triângulo Mineiro region, as well as the use of mobile devices by these producers as a tool to assist management, especially through mobile banking. The choice of this locality for the study develompent occurred due to the relevance that it has for the rural activity in the state of Minas Gerais, which, in turn, has relevance for Brazilian agribusiness. To reach the proposed objective, a survey was carried out with the application of questionnaires to 113 rural producers from 20 cities in the Triângulo Mineiro. It was identified through multivariate regressions that the age of the producer, knowledge of production costs, participation in training in financial management and the perception about the relevance of financial management are factors related to the adoption of financial management practices. In relation to mobile technologies, it was verified through structural equations that the perceived utility, ease of use and trust are the factors that influence the use of these tools. Social influence, in turn, is negatively related to use, a result contrary to most previous studies. Ease of use also contributes to adoption through perceived utility. Social influence, on the other hand, is negatively related to use, contrary to most previous studies, which is one of the main theoretical contributions observed in this research. As justification for this result, a possible innovative behavior of rural producers who use mobile devices as a management aid tool was raised and, as regards the use of mobile banking, it was suggested that there is resistance from producers to the adoption, even though people close to them use this technology. The possible contributions of this study also lie in understanding the managerial characteristics of rural producers in an important Brazilian region, as well as revealing information that may support public power strategies, rural unions, rural cooperatives, financial institutions and others interested in improving rural management.