MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT, REGULATION, PROFESSIONALIZATION AND PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS IN HIDALGO: AN AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP

We analyze the relationship between municipal development in Hidalgo, measured through CONAPO's Municipal Marginalization Index, and three organizational factors: regulation, professionalization and experience of local public officials. To obtain information related to this trio of independent variables, a survey was applied in 2007 to 39% of the municipalities in Hidalgo. Subsequently, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed between all these variables. The results show that there is no clear and significant relationship between municipal development and the rest of the exogenous variables. However, there are interesting findings related to the precariousness of municipal regulations, as well as the academic level and previous experience of some local officials, a scenario not only for municipalities with acceptable levels of development, but also for those that are not so fortunate. To mention some results: the best academically prepared local officials are the municipal comptrollers: 76% of them have a bachelor's degree; while 55% of the municipal presidents have that academic level. Sixty percent of the municipal presidents come from the private sector and only 39% of these same officials have forged their experience in the public sector.