Recursos essenciais

The wave of market deregulation around the world has allowed competitive interaction between companies and led to improvements in productive and allocative efficiency. This is the case with telephony and air transportation in Brazil. Despite the success of these reforms, empirical studies suggest that the performance of firms remains sub-optimal in several markets, and problems of access to essential resources play a decisive role in this situation. For example, the case of crowded airports dominated by a few incumbent airlines with market power and predatory practices towards smaller regional airlines or low-price entrants is classic in the international experience of the air transport sector. It is therefore essential that regulatory authorities have the tools to tackle the problem of access to essential resources in regulated sectors, especially those involving basic infrastructure for the country's growth. Sectors where there is no alternative to changing supplier or where there are considerable switching costs can become obstacles to development and bottlenecks to sustainable growth.