IMPROVING BRAZIL’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY TARGETING INFRASTRUCTURE

The document argues that a general trend in Brazilian transport regulation seeks to reduce the economic profits of private concessionaires, which is being offset by hidden subsidies from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). This shift is claimed to erode incentives for private operators to select the most efficient projects and maintain high quality, thereby increasing costs for the agricultural sector. While highways and railways are seen as suffering from increasing regulatory complexity and unbundling, the port sector is highlighted as a relative success due to the deregulation of private usage terminals (TUPs), although the authors suggest further deregulation of public ports is needed.

• Brazil's transport infrastructure is poor compared to other emerging and developed economies, with the World Economic Forum ranking it 74th out of 140 countries in 2015.
• The authors argue that recent regulatory trends across highways, railways, and ports aim to reduce ex-post profits for concessionaires, which is compensated by hidden subsidies to maintain investor participation.
• In the highway sector, new regulations such as risk matrices and the 'availability discount mechanism' are said to shift the focus from satisfying users to satisfying regulators, leading to operational deterioration.
• Evidence from the National Transportation Agency (ANTT) indicates that 30% of works by eight highway concessionaires were delayed as of June 2014.
• The railway sector has moved toward 'unbundling,' where private concessionaires building and maintaining tracks are prohibited from operating trains, a move the authors claim ignores economies of scope and discourages investment.
• The port sector has seen growth through the deregulation of private usage terminals (TUPs), which accounted for 63% of the country's cargo tonnage as of 2013.
• Despite the success of TUPs, the authors argue that the best solution for port efficiency would be the full deregulation of public ports, which currently remain state-owned and operationally inefficient.
• The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has increased subsidized funding for infrastructure, shifting the financial burden of projects from users to taxpayers.

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} }