Resumen

This project focuses on the understanding of economic informality in the Colombian rural context, paying special attention to its implications in terms of productive and social inclusion. Along these lines, the project focuses on three specifically relevant manifestations of rural informality: i) financial informality; ii) illegal mining; and iii) insecurity of property rights over land. From the perspective of financial informality, the lack of access to formal credit channels can be decisive in the decision of rural producer households not to adopt new technologies, or to participate in alternative export channels that generate higher incomes. Likewise, the risk of formal assurance level can have negative consequences for production decisions and the ability to generate sustainable income in the long term. Regarding illegal mining, this activity not only has a direct potential negative impact, through the limited capacity to adopt technologies and generate income, but also indirectly, with harmful consequences on the environment and health. Finally, insecurity about land ownership rights can limit productive investment, both through a limited supply of resources to finance certain investments, and through lower demand for investment. This is due to the uncertainty associated with the increased risk of losing access to land over quality, property rights are not completely defined.