PPIs and transport infrastructure: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean

In the recent past, several governments tried to promote infrastructure investments using different policies and funding schemes. Strategies have been differentiated over time, among regions, and in relation to specific political choices. The paper focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean in which different political approaches have been developed together with a quite different geographical level of characterisation, representing a significant case study to better understand how political and institutional intervention might incentivise local and/ or foreign investors, shaping the organisation of the infrastructure network. Therefore, the current research analyses the transport-related projects included in the World Bank database on private participation in infrastructure (from 1980 to 2015) highlighting main patterns in terms of institutional, social and economic characteristics that might influence the investment in transport infrastructure in the Latin America and the Caribbean. Our panel analysis – that includes data collected from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and local government websites – shows a clear link between government strategies and the related outcome in terms of transport investments. In particular, in addition to the size of the investment, a positive (and significant) impact of being part of a regional organisation emerges, as well as the involvement of private companies.