The Brazilian seaport system: A post-1990 institutional and economic review Cassia Bömer Galvão a, ⁎, Leo Tadeu Robles b,1 , Luciana Cardoso Guerise c,2 a São Paulo Catholic University, PUC-SP, Rua Elydio A. Moletta, 81, Valinhos, SP, Brazil b Federal University of Maranhão State, UFMA, Rua Cel. Oscar Porto, 713, SP, Brazil c Federal University of Maranhão State, UFMA, Rua Paulo Barreto, 80, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil abstract article info Article history: Received 19 December 2012 Received in revised form 31 May 2013 Accepted 22 June 2013 Available online 2 September 2013 Keywords: Brazilian ports Maritime economics Regulation Privatization This paper addresses the remarkable institutional and economic changes in the Brazilian seaport system in the past 25 years. Port throughput has increased substantially following the growth in foreign trade and the institu- tional framework had remarkable changes, but it is still required to enhance private investment infrastructure by a clearer regulation and transport integration improvement. Following the international liberalization movement, a new regulation was established (Act 8630/1993) and sea port operations were privatized. But, only, in 2001 the regulation agency, National Agency for Waterway Regulation (ANTAQ) and later, in 2007, the Special Port Secretariat were created to regulate and control the port sector and manage local port authorities. The experience is considered successful; however the complexity of the Brazilian port system and private investment continuity require clearer legal instruments. Today, different lease agreements coexist and the present legal instruments are considered controversial in their definitions in the context of public, private and mixed terminals. A new act was proposed by the Government and it is under consideration by the Brazilian Congress. The analysis comprised three aspects: 1) the historical background of the privatization process; 2) the present institutional situation, as seen by the private sector, and the public entities' role in regulating and monitoring port operations; and 3) institutional and governance framework present situation and perspectives impacting on investments in port infrastructure aiming to improve competitiveness. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction There has been extensive scientific and academic production ad- dressing capital globalization effects on countries economy. World Trade Organization data (WTO, 2005) show that in the period ranging from 1990 to 2004, trade volume grew almost three times faster than WTO'S signatory nations' gross domestic product (GDP). The interna- tional trade and geographic direction of operations involving the so-called tradable goods justify analyzing sea ports' role in globaliza- tion, as pointed out by UNCTAD (2012): Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and a key engine driving globalization. Around 80% of global trade by volume and over 70% by value are carried by sea and are handled by ports worldwide; these shares are even higher in the case of most developing countries (UNCTAD, 2012, p. xiii). This article analyzes Brazilian port sector deep structural changes, especially, in the 1990s, and it shows how these changes have been driven by modernization requirements in a new global economic envi- ronment. Thus, the focus herein is the recent economic development that took place at ports and, more specifically, in the institutional laws and regulations evolution. The objective was to identify not only the po- tential, but also the obstacles which the private sector has to overcome to operate in the port sector. The Brazilian port sector has scarcely been studied in foreign specialized literature and the existing papers approaching Brazilian reality are dedicated to specific case studies linked to specific subjects or research projects (Ng, 2010 ; Padilha & Ng, 2012). On the other hand, Ng and Pallis (2010) approached port governance and institu- tional framework reform by investigating three seaports in Asia and Europe, where they identified as an emergent and recent issue to re- search what was called by then the “path-dependence” between local/ national institutional framework and political traditions. This article focus (Brazilian legal framework for infrastructure) has not been identified in additional international academic literature. The authors considered this relative lack of international references and the subject relevance and novelty as challenges to contribute to its aca- demic discussion. Research in Transportation Business & Management 8 (2013) 17–29 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 19 3871 8244. E-mail addresses: cbgalvao@yahoo.com.br, cassiabgalvao@gmail.com (C.B. Galvão), leotadeurobles@uol.com.br (L.T. Robles), lguerise@uol.com.br (L.C. Guerise). 1 Tel.: +55 11 38846943. 2 Tel.: +55 21 8272 1088. 2210-5395/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2013.06.006 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Transportation Business & Management