SALVANDO VIDAS: CONCESSÕES DE RODOVIAS E MORTES NOS MUNICÍPIOS BRASILEIROS

Abstract

Private operators of highway concessions carry out expansion and maintenance works and provide support services to users. One of these services is medical care, not only to victims of accidents, but also because in many municipalities the service centers of the concessionaires become the closest option for medical care to the population. Between childbirth and other actions, 700 medical treatments are performed per day on the concession routes. This work presents empirical evidence of the impact of federal highway concessions on the total number of deaths in municipalities. The difference-in-differences method is used, where the municipalities benefiting from the concession program were part of the treatment group, while the control group was formed by municipalities crossed by federal highways but did not receive concessions. The results indicate that having a highway concession reduces the total number of deaths registered in the municipality by 2.3% compared to not having a concession. This effect may be due to the provision of medical services by the concessionaires, better quality of infrastructure and greater financial resources available to municipalities due to tax collection by concessionaires. Considering only the 370 municipalities covered by highway concessions, the actions of the concessionaires meant 8,918 lives saved in 2021 alone, and over 124,000 lives preserved since 2007. The article innovates by assessing the effect not only on deaths from road accidents, but more comprehensively (deaths in general in the municipality), therefore with greater interest for public health and transport policies.