IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE

This research paper examines how recent regulatory changes in Brazil's transport infrastructure—specifically highways, railways, and ports—impact agricultural productivity. The authors argue that a general trend toward more complex regulation seeks to limit private profits, which in turn erodes investment incentives and operational efficiency, necessitating costly public subsidies.

• Brazil's transport infrastructure is poor compared to other emerging and developed economies, ranking 74th out of 140 countries according to the 2015-2016 World Economic Forum Competitiveness Rankings.
• The authors identify a general regulatory trend across highways, railways, and ports that aims to reduce the economic profits of private concessionaires, which is then compensated for by hidden public subsidies to maintain investor interest.
• Recent changes in highway concession rules, such as the introduction of risk matrices and the 'availability discount mechanism', have shifted the focus from satisfying users to satisfying regulators, leading to deteriorating performance and work delays.
• The Brazilian government has moved toward 'unbundling' railway operations, separating the construction and maintenance of tracks from the operation of trains. The authors argue this destroys economies of scope and contradicts the integrated models used in the U.S., Canada, and Russia.
• Port regulation has been more successful than other sectors due to the ability of private investors to open independent port facilities (TUPs), which accounted for 63% of the country's cargo tonnage as of 2013.
• The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has increased subsidized funding for infrastructure to offset regulatory risks, effectively shifting the financial burden of these projects from the users to the taxpayers.
• Infrastructure development in the Brazilian Amazon has historically been linked to deforestation not because of the infrastructure itself, but due to a lack of environmental monitoring and law enforcement during the occupation of the forest.

APA

CHIAVARI, J., & REZENDE, L. (2016). IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PAPER_Infrastructure_CPI_Final.pdf

Chicago

CHIAVARI, JOANA, and LEONARDO REZENDE. IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PAPER_Infrastructure_CPI_Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CHIAVARI |first1=JOANA |last2=REZENDE |first2=LEONARDO |title=IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=July 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PAPER_Infrastructure_CPI_Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chiavari2016improving, author = {CHIAVARI, JOANA and REZENDE, LEONARDO}, title = {{IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PAPER_Infrastructure_CPI_Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }