Enthusiasm for the private provision of infrastructure – such as highways, railroads, electricity and water – seems to be waning among the developing countries just as it is increasing in the United States and Europe. To what extent was private provision of infrastructure successful in developing countries and what does their experience suggest for the future of private investment in the United States?
Speaker: José A. Gómez-Ibáñez is the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at Harvard University, where he holds a joint appointment at the Graduate School of Design and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He teaches courses in economics, infrastructure and transportation policy in both schools.
Professor Gómez-Ibáñez’ research interests are in transportation, infrastructure, and economic development, and he has authored or edited a half dozen books including: Regulating Infrastructure: Monopoly, Contracts and Discretion (Harvard University Press, 2003); Essays in Transportation Economics and Policy: A Handbook in Honor of John R. Meyer(with William Tye and Clifford Winston, Brookings Institution Press, 1999); Going Private: The International Experience with Transport Privatization (with John R. Meyer, Brookings Institution Press, 1993); Regulation for Revenue: The Political Economy of Land Use Exactions (with Alan Altshuler, Brookings Institution Press, 1993); Autos, Transit and Cities (with John R. Meyer, Harvard University Press, 1981); Cases in Microeconomics (with Joseph Kalt, Prentice-Hall, 1990).
At Harvard, Gómez-Ibáñez currently serves as the faculty co-chair (with Henry Lee) of the Infrastructure in a Market Economy executive program at the Kennedy School. In the past he has been the faculty chair of the Masters in Urban Planning Program at the Design School (2001-2004), of the Masters in Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School (1996-1998), of doctoral programs at the Design School (1992-1995), and of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Design School (1984-1988).