Rendas compensatórias da mineração: um estudo para Minas Gerais

Abstract

The increase in exports of raw goods throughout Latin America in the early 2000s reignited the debate on the relationship between natural resources and development. Although there is no consensus on this subject, both authors who believe that natural resources can be a blessing and those who believe that such resources are a curse agree that there are problems that are inherent in extraction activity, and that is why economies riches in mineral resources require more government attention. Increasing demand for primary goods, therefore, has led many mineral-exporting countries to change their mineral codes in order to reduce the negative effects of mining and to bring into society part of revenues extraction was acquiring. In Brazil, the responsibility for bringing the mineral production benefit to the population belongs to the Financial Compensation for Exploration of Mineral Resources (CFEM). However, since it was set up in 1989, this mineral royalty has been criticized. For this reason, this study analyzed different socioeconomic aspects of 18 municipalities that collect CFEM in the state of Minas Gerais, divided by different collection bands, in an attempt to evaluate how the share of CFEM has contributed to the development of these regions, and especially to understand how recent changes observed in the Brazilian Mineral Code may be mitigating or even intensifying the problems related to this financial compensation. Regarding methodological aspects, from a theoretical point of view, this research was based on historical-structural analysis, as carried out in ECLAC studies, as well as elements of institutionalist analysis. From the point of view of methods, qualitative and quantitative instruments were used. The research concluded that high incomes from CFEM did not result in better socioeconomic indices for the municipalities analyzed and the recent changes in Brazilian mineral legislation seem to contribute even more to the disparity present in the receipt of mineral offsets among producing municipalities.