Precificação de touros Nelore de elite: Uma análise hedônica intra-segmento no Leilão Golias Select

Abstract

The Brazilian market for elite breeding bulls mobilizes both pedigree markers and phenotypic indicators of productive merit as quality signals. Because the hedonic pricing literature on breeding bulls typically compares animals from distinct genetic segments, it remains largely unexplored which attributes differentiate prices when the offering already comprises animals of the same elite tier, a setting in which the premium of belonging to the segment is not identifiable and only within-segment variation is observed. Given this gap, the purpose of this study is to estimate the determinants of within-segment price variation among elite Nellore bulls sold at the Golias Select auction in April 2024. To this end, a hedonic pricing function was estimated for 47 breeding bulls by ordinary least squares with robust standard errors, complemented by a Tobit model with left-censoring at the reserve price as a robustness check, relating phenotypic indicators of productive merit and pedigree markers (inbreeding and the intensity of Golias lineage presence) to observed prices. Ribeye area displays a positive association significant at the 5% level, and scrotal circumference a positive association of only marginal significance (10%); inbreeding and Golias lineage intensity display no statistically detectable association, although the small sample size limits test power. The findings, exploratory in nature, suggest that once the elite tier is internalized, price differentiation responds primarily to observable productive merit rather than to formal pedigree.