Resource information
An adequate supply of infrastructure
services has long been viewed by both academics and policy
makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Over
the past quarter-century, the retrenchment of Latin
America's public sector from its dominant position in
the provision of infrastructure, and the opening up of these
industries to private participation, have renewed the debate
on the role of infrastructure in the region's
development. The focus of this paper is three-fold. First,
it documents, in a comparative cross-regional perspective,
the trends in Latin America's infrastructure
development, as reflected in the quantity and quality of
infrastructure services and the universality of their
access. Overall, this suggests the emergence of an
infrastructure gap vis-a-vis other industrial and developing
regions. Second, it provides an empirical assessment of the
contribution of infrastructure development to growth across
Latin America. Third, it examines the trends in the
financing of infrastructure investment -- documenting the
changing roles of the public and private sectors -- and
analyzes how they have been shaped by macroeconomic policy constraints.
