Resumen

LAVERDE RODRIGUEZ, Carlos Alfonso; LAVERDE ROJAS, Henry  y  DEVIA BARBOSA, Marcela Esperanza. The illegal gold economy in Latin America: empirical evidence on governance, criminality and state control (2016-2022). Rev. Cient. Gen. José María Córdova [online]. 2025, vol.23, n.52, pp.819-842.  Epub 01-Oct-2025. ISSN 1900-6586.  https://doi.org/10.21830/19006586.1529.

This article analyzes the factors that explain the proportion of illicit gold exports in six Latin American countries between 2016 and 2022. Using a panel data model with fixed effects, the estimated percentage of exported illegal gold is evaluated based on four independent variables (institutional quality, per capita income, forest cover, and gold price). The results show that forest cover is the main factor positively associated with illegal gold mining, while institutional quality and income have negative, albeit weaker, effects. Although the phenomenon is multicausal and dynamic, the results of this study suggest that territorial control and differentiated governance explain the dynamics of illegal gold to a greater extent than aggregate levels of development, thus reinforcing its interpretation as a structural phenomenon.

Palabras clave : gold; governance; illegal mining; Latin America; organized crime.

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