Institutional design and governance of airport regulators: The case of Latin America

This paper offers a cross-country assessment of the governance of airport regulators in Latin America. The analysis links the institutional design of airport regulators, whether in the form of independent regulatory agencies or government departments, to their overall governance. It examines four dimensions of regulatory governance: autonomy, transparency, accountability, and bureaucratic quality. Independent regulatory agencies in the Latin American airport sector seem to provide a better framework for transparency and bureaucratic quality than government departments. It is not conclusively found, however, that independent regulatory agencies contribute to a more autonomous decision-making or to an enhanced accountability of regulators to other branches of government and airport users. Overall, governance indicators of airport regulators in Latin America are well below the threshold that defines good governance.

► This paper is the first cross country assessment of governance of airport regulators in Latin America.
► Using governance indicators of airport regulators in Latin America, it shows them to be well below the threshold that defines good governance.
► Independent agencies perform better than government departments in terms of bureaucratic quality.
► Independent agencies and government departments present similar behaviors in terms of accountability and autonomy.