All that glitters is not gold? Approaching the sub-national and spatial
impact of a gold rush and policy changes
Carlos Adrián Saldarriaga
Isaza, Sergio Alonso Orrego Suaza, Marcela Ibáñez Diaz, Juan Carlos Muñoz Mora, María Natalia
Cantet
Over
the last 20 years, there has been a rapid expansion of gold mining in Colombia.
This proposal aims to investigate the impacts of this boom on local
socioeconomic and environmental conditions (deforestation). In particular, we
study the impact of the change in the mining royalties regime on the regional
development path. The proposed analysis is based on secondary data over 1122
Colombia municipalities using spatial econometric and qualitative techniques.
Our identification strategy considers exogenous variation in gold mining
potential given by geographical and environmental factors. The use of spatial correlation allows
estimating the spillover effects on neighboring units. The research generates a novel data set that
integrates panel data on the Colombian municipalities' geographical,
socioeconomic, and environmental characteristics over 20 years. We contribute
to the international discussion on the relationship between mining and
development and provide insights into mining policy
