Global Journal of Management and Business Research, B: Economics and Commerce, Volume 23 Issue 3

3. Institutionalism is nothing more than a tenuous dissidence from economic orthodoxy (SAMUELS, 1995); 4. It would be up to Institutional Economics to satisfy the theoretical demand for a general description of how the economic order relates to the economic phenomena related to the relationship between industry and human well-being (CONCEIÇÃO, 2000). Criticism inhibited intellectual production and led the Institutionalist School to a ten-year lethargy (CONCEIÇÃO, 2000). In place of “naive empiricism”, descriptive and theoretical historicist, the foundations of what was called New Institutional Economics (NEI) emerged as an opposition and complementation to the theoretically empty legacy of the “old institutional economy”, but a field that absorbed institutions in a different way. operationally and methodologically adequate (MYRDAL, 1984). With a position that does not fully agree with the previous author, Fiani (2011) says that what is conventionally called old and new economic institutionalism, when applied to the two schools, should not be understood as meaning respectively “obsolete” and “modern”, but they only concern the fact that the old has historical precedence over the new Institutionalism. i. The New Institutionalist Theory In that context, research on the New Institutional Theory (NEI) emerged, which can be studied under two aspects: (i) institutional environment that deals with macro institutions such as the legislation that regulates a country; and (ii) governance institutions that study micro institutions as the internal regulations of a company (CALEMAN et al., 2006). It is understood that this research is focused on the second aspect when it aims to understand how the Institutional Theory explains the practical activities of the artisanal açaí whisk. It is noteworthy that the precursors of the research underlying the NEI were Ronald Coase, Douglass North, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson, all recognized and awarded at different times with the Nobel Prize in Economics. In this conjunction, the basis for the institutionalist proposal was the reading that these authors made of the success of Western economies, especially Western Europe and the United States (GALA, 2017). The NEI differs from traditional economic theory, because while the latter seeks to determine the optimal allocation of resources, given a certain set of economic organizations such as the family, firm and market, the NEI aims to identify the best way of organizing transactions. economic, whose configuration changes the initial conditions for the allocation of resources (GUEDES, 2000). NEI is based on neoclassical concepts and studies institutions under a theoretical approach underlying institutional arrangements and compete- tiveness, where management is disciplined by the competitiveness present in the markets (COASE 1937; WILLIAMSON, 1992; ANKARLOO; PALERMO, 2004; GUERREIRO et al., 2005). Therefore, it is possible to infer that the points of production and sale of açaí wine are institutional arrangements that compete with each other in the search for cost and price practices that satisfy customer needs, therefore, they are competitive arrangements. It is possible to show that the microeconomic aspects fundamentally constitute the object of the NEI, as well as its theoretical basis is the unconventional firm added to the mix of history and industrial organizations. The success and merits of this school of thought are highlighted by Conceição (2000): 1. They made possible relevant theoretical changes, such as a new analytical treatment of the theory of firms without the optimizing principle as a survival strategy; 2. It brought new links to the continuity strategy; 3. It encouraged differentiated behavior of agents, sometimes as imitators, sometimes innovators, sometimes as refractory to changes; 4. It established new canons for the understanding of economic development from the construction of formal and informal rules that over time start to guide institutional changes, these are the real responsible for the country's performance. The NEI was not exempt from criticism, Conceição (2000) says that its propositions come up against the analytical limitation of taking the whole for the parts, that is, it implicitly considers that individuals acting rationally, even under limited rationality, and regulating market dysfunctions, are able to ensure efficiency by minimizing transaction costs. Taking stock of what has been discussed so far and to close this debate, it should also be said that Zylbersztajn and Graça (2002) summarize that some of the criticisms of the NEI have their origin in the apparent impossibility and difficulty of ascertaining transaction costs. In this sense, the Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) is considered an appendix of the NEI. Furthermore, the justification for the study of TCT in this research is also given by the fact that transaction costs are the expression of the effect of institutions on the functioning of the economy (FIANI, 2011). Thus, when considered relevant for this research, it is highlighted that the main point of the organization of the economy, having transaction costs as a theoretical framework, results in the minimization of transaction and transformation costs. Therefore, managing costs and contributing to the competitiveness of companies are also objectives that arise from the studies and 17 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue III Version I Year 2023 ( ) B © 2023 Global Journals Study of Artisanal Açaí Beater under the Light of Institutionalist Theory: An Integrative Review