Achievements and current challenges regarding public utilities' regulation in Brazil

Abstract

This Special Issue of the Network Industries Quarterly focuses on Brazil. The goal is to provide readers with an overview of the main achievements and current challenges faced by public utilities’ regulation in the country. Brazil is the seventh largest economy in the world in terms of GDP. As a consequence of the privatization program launched in the 1990s, a significant portion of public services was transferred to private investors under long-term concession agreements. This was the case of transmission and distribution of electricity, roads, railroads and telecommunications. However, despite privatization, the State remains an important player in sectors such as electricity and oil & gas, which increases the complexity of regulation considering an environment in which State-owned companies interact with private investors. This volume of Network Industries Quarterly consists of five papers that shall provide readers with a broad sense of what happened in terms of public utilities’ investment in Brazil in the last two decades and some trends for the future.