Privatization and financialization of infrastructures in Brazil: agents and rentier strategies after global financial crisis of 2008

Abstract

Infrastructure production in Brazil has undergone important transformations since the 1990s, articulating itself with the country’s alignment with a neoliberal agenda. The adoption of countercyclical policies in response to the 2008 crisis, expands and makes the nature of these processes even more complex. The historical role of the BNDES in conducting the privatization processes and the growing economic and political power of the major national contractors are taking is central elements to understand this process. Discussing with the international debate about privatization and financialization of infrastructures, we seek to understand the Brazilian case in order to problematize the increase centrality of rent accumulation. The article is developed through the analysis of institutional arrangements, dominant agents and accumulation strategies, considering the systematization and critical interpretation of the bibliography, documents and data referring to the transformation of the sector.

Keywords:
Public-private partnerships; Finance; Rent