Bolsa Família e seus possíveis efeitos no desenvolvimento local do município de Formiga: um estudo de caso em Minas Gerais

Abstract

Income transfer programs are the result of a long evolutionary process triggered by social and political factors, reaching notable and fundamental importance with the enactment of the 1988 Constitution, a time when there was a significant redefinition of the federative arrangement that allowed the decentralization of power from the Union to the States, Federal District and Municipalities. This decentralization was essential for the operationalization of income transfer programs, since the Union was incapable of managing them in a centralized manner, with the role played by municipalities gaining prominence in this process. Among income transfer programs, the Bolsa Família Program has stood out not only at the national level, with its success and importance recognized worldwide, setting the stage for the emergence of other programs around the world. Created with the objective of reducing poverty and inequality in the national territory, the program strengthens families' access to basic rights such as education, health and social assistance, mainly through the conditions imposed by it. This study aims to analyze the possible effects of Bolsa Família on the local development of the city of Formiga, Minas Gerais, specifically in terms of its economic and social dimensions, the latter encompassing both aspects related to education and health, as well as aspects related to social assistance. To this end, the theoretical framework initially presents the context of the emergence of income transfer programs, up to the current format of Bolsa Família. The second and third moments deal with the evolution of the term “development” in its multiple facets until it reaches “local development,” as well as the relationships established between Bolsa Família and the modern concept of local development. The fourth and final moment of the framework seeks to establish the relationships between the program and its possible effects on local development. Using an exploratory study approach, through a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with three distinct groups of the program: beneficiaries, municipal employees directly linked to management, and emancipated individuals. Adapting Marshallian, Schumpeterian and transactional externalities to the object of this study, the effects of Bolsa Família were analyzed from these three perspectives. It was observed that Bolsa Família stands out in certain categories of analysis, such as its effects on social inclusion, food security and access to health from the Marshallian perspective, as well as its effects on the recognition of dignity and inclusion in the community, from the transactional perspective. On the other hand, in certain aspects it was not possible to verify robust elements that would allow the visualization of concrete effects, for example, on the family education level and entrepreneurial capacity, thought of from the logic of Schumpeterian externality.