Promotion of regional development and social perception. The case of FISM in three municipalities in the state of Puebla, 2023

Abstract

The main instrument of the recent promotion of regional development through the elimination of marginalization in Mexico has been the Municipal Social Infrastructure Fund (FISM), made up of federal funds allocated annually directly to the country's most marginalized municipalities. Undoubtedly, the FISM has had positive results in the country given that, in general, objectively the indices of municipal marginalization have decreased, at least, between 1990 and 2015. However, the population's perception of the effects of the FISM works can play an important role in the evaluation of the instrument's effect at the social level. This paper reports the results of a research on the perception of the effect of FISM among the population of the municipalities of Atlixco, San Andrés Cholula and Puebla, all of them in the state of Puebla, which have observed an improvement in the quality of life during the last thirty years. The field study was conducted between June and September 2023, and focused on the socioeconomic variables that influence this perception. With the help of econometric analysis, it was found that, although the degree of satisfaction is influenced by some socioeconomic variables, the population feels amply satisfied with the works of the FISM, which suggests a relevant effectiveness of this instrument for the promotion of regional development.