O impacto das concessões no setor aeroportuário: comparação do desempenho econômico entre aeroportos brasileiros

Abstract

The search for an efficient airport infrastructure is essential for a good economic performance of any country, in the case of Brazil, due to its large territorial extension, airports are crucial for the integration of the country, as well, for the efficiency of various activities that depend on the fast transport of people, goods, and is fundamental to the important Brazilian tourism chain. This relevant role that the Brazilian air transport sector has in the country's economic performance has led the Brazilian government to include some of its largest airports in the national privatization program through concession contracts. The control transferring of these important revenue-generating assets to the private sector raises expectations of a performance evolution and optimization of the use of these infrastructures. However, this separation of control (agent and principal) brings with it the emergence of informational asymmetries such as those provided in the Agency Theory, as well as the signing of long-term contracts that, according to the Theory of Incomplete Contracts, might have gaps or omissions that would allow the opportunistic behavior of the parties in order to achieve their own benefit and, consequently, affect the economic performance of airports. Thus, this research aims to compare the performance indicators of airports under the traditional model of public control with the performance indicators of airports that recently started to be controlled by private entities. For that, quantile regression models were used. The research sample is composed of the 20 largest Brazilian airports in number of passengers and cargo, 14 of which are public airports and 6 are granted to the private sector. The results point to better profitability and cost efficiency at public airports, while private airports have a superior performance in the capacity to generate revenues and to diversify the sources of these revenues.