Transaction Costs in the Infrastructure Finance – Literature Review and Proposal for New Studies

Proceedings of The 2nd International Conference on Research in Business, Management and Economics

Year: 2019

DOI:

[Fulltex PDF]

Transaction Costs in the Infrastructure Finance – Literature Review and Proposal for New Studies

Alexandre-Silva, Maurício ,Turolla and Frederico Araújo

 

ABSTRACT: 

The main objective of this study is to gather the most relevant contributions of the academic literature seizing the transaction costs of the bank financing to the infrastructure, in the search of possible new lines of research. The effort is permeable to the vast literature that deals with the three issues separately – transaction costs, bank financing and infrastructure – but especially the one that grasps them together. A systematic, integrative approach is the methodology in place to get a summary of how transaction costs of infrastructure finance have been studied, presenting, in the end, a reasoned perception that it has been neglected (literature gap) quantitative researches measuring how transaction costs vary in the infrastructure finance contracts (called project finance contracts – PFCs). In addition to positioning itself as central focus, literature revision and the unveil of a gap on it conduct to a proposal of new studies, including suggestions of a theoretical model, of a methodology and a hypothesis test that seek to deepen scientific and practical knowledge regarding the subject. Theoretical model, methodology and hypothesis test close the present study in an indicative way, but not before the reflection on the reasons that justify its persecution. The interest stems from understanding how the transaction costs affect borrowers, lenders and the society in general, since infrastructures like roads, railroads, ports, airports, energy generation and transmission, communication facilities are of public interest. The study also transcends national boundaries, since infrastructure opportunities account for a large part of country-oriented Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Keywords: infrastructure, financing, banking, transaction-costs, FDI.