Social performance in the Brazilian agribusiness: applying DEA in factories processing sugar cane.Original Title Desempenho social no agronegocio brasileiro: aplicando DEA no segmento de usinas de processamento de cana-de-acucar.

摘要

This study examines, through the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the relationship between investment capacity and social and environmental benefits, in a way that the higher are the benefits to a lower investment capacity, higher will be the efficiency and, as a result, the social and environmental performance. The study results of nineteen sugar cane mills in Brazil show that Agrovale is the best one and Sao Jose Estiva is inferior in terms of social and environmental performance. In addition, a relationship was observed between social and environmental practice and the company size. Bigger companies exhibited the best performances.Digital Object Identifier http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-20032010000100010