The development of flexible-fuel vehicles in Brazil and the need for an alternative energy source to oil (Petroleum) has lead to a reconfiguration of the ethanol distribution process. These changes have brought new opportunities to the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol fuel industry and new directions to the development of ethanol marketing channels in the national and international levels. The present study aims to show how transactions between ethanol distributors and retail stations occur. The research was conducted as a multiple case study by collecting data through in-person interviews in nine companies which are representative members of the ethanol marketing channels (distributors and retail stations) in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The data analysis was performed using the cost transactions economics theory to evaluate the variables used in the analysis (business specificities, frequency, and transaction risks). The results indicate that the most important specificities of the fuel distributors business are related to physical specificities such as locational and brand assets. With regard to the retail stations, the major specificities identified were the same, except for the physical and locational assets. Governance forms based on contractual and spot market stand out in the relationship between the two agents investigated
Brazilian sugarcane ethanol fuel; Transaction costs; Governance; Distributors; Retail stations
