Balance y desafíos del Sistema General de Regalías como instrumento de desarrollo económico y social

Abstract

The General Royalty System - SGR is a very important investment budget for territorial entities; however, the level of impact of the projects on the living conditions of the communities has been questioned. This research aims to analyze the level of impact of the SGR on socioeconomic indicators at the departmental level, for the period from 2012 to 2020 through: 1) a diagnosis of the criteria and methodologies in the prioritization and evaluation of projects, 2) the application of a panel data model to measure the incidence of SGR investment in the Human Development Index - HDI at the departmental level, and 3) the description of the strengths and weaknesses of the new SGR reform. In the construction of the document, it was possible to show that there is a low negative correlation between the SGR per capita and HDI allocation variables, which shows that royalties are not influencing in an influential way in reducing poverty and, for the On the contrary, it is generating the opposite effect, in accordance with the theories of the "curse of natural resources". The 2012 and 2020 reforms are framed within a simple development perspective, which aims to address the problems by distributing more resources to all, without worrying about the effectiveness they are generating. Although the new regime brings positive elements, it should focus on the problem of the low relevance of the projects and the lack of interest of the communities in SGR investment.