The Competitive Advantages of the Spanish Companies in the International Toll Road Industry

ISSN： 1392-3730

Source： Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, Vol.17, Iss.4, 2011-12, pp. : 483-493

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Private toll roads have experienced a notable worldwide expansion in the last two decades. In the early 1990s, many countries began to offer motorway concessions to private investors, most notably in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe. In the late 1990s and 2000s, the innovation spread to countries in Asia, North America and Western Europe. The Spanish construction companies have been awarded many more concessions than their main rivals together, and they have become prominent in many of the countries with the most significant toll road programs. This paper analyses the competitive advantages that the Spanish companies have enjoyed in the international toll road industry in the last two decades. We argue that they have benefited from the fact that their home country was a pioneer in offering motorway concessions; from a cultural advantage in dealing with Latin America; and from their decision to integrate construction, concession, and investor functions in a single company. The paper also analyses to what extent the road concessions the Spaniards have won are generally profitable.