Infrastructure Policy, Brazil

Synonyms

Infrastructure and Governance

Definition

Infrastructure policy is the set of governmental actions, guidelines, principles, legislation, and other instruments, regarding the physical assets and public services supporting the country’s systems for transport, energy, telecommunications, and water and sanitation.

Introduction

Infrastructure plays a crucial role in a country’s economic welfare, as it raises productivity and living standards. For less developed countries, the effects of public infrastructure investment on economic performance tend to be substantially higher, since the capital stock of infrastructure for these countries is lower than in developed countries (Pereira and Andraz 2013).

According to the World Bank, Brazil’s stock of physical infrastructure is smaller than that of most countries with a similar income level. This is particularly the case for transport and water and sanitation. Yet access to electricity and telecommunications is mostly on par with other...