Compás Empresarial y de Competitividad No. 1 Regiones para vivir Índice Sintético de Calidad de Vida Departamental [Business and Competitiveness Compass No. 1 Regions to live Synthetic index of departmental quality of life]

The Camara de Comercio de Cali publishes this paper that presents the design and calculation of the Synthetic Quality of Life Index (ISCV) for the Colombian departments in 2016. The results allow identifying aggregately the way in which the different selected environmental conditions, grouped in the dimensions of Basic Conditions, Economic Opportunities and Human Capital, affect the probability that people can enjoy a better quality of life. The results show the great heterogeneity of environmental conditions among Colombian departments and allow orienting and prioritizing programs and public policies that could contribute more effectively to improving the quality of life in each region. In terms of the Index, Cundinamarca (including Bogota), Valle del Cauca and Atlantico occupy the first positions among the group evaluated, indicating that the inhabitants of these departments can enjoy better living conditions. The design and measurement of this indicator represents a contribution in the field of study of the quality of life in Colombia, proposing a powerful set of variables, selected from the Principal Component Analysis method, which overcomes the statistical tests that validate the exercise.