Fiscal constraints, social asymmetries, and structural vulnerabilities within colombia's special customs regime zones
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This paper aims to identify the key factors driving the competitiveness of enterprises operating within Colombia’s Special Customs Regime Zones (ZRAEs)—peripheral regions marked by institutional asymmetries and economic informality, most notably Maicao, Uribia, Manaure, Guapi, Tumaco, and Leticia. Methodologically, a qualitative systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA protocol, critically analyzing a corpus of 38 scientific papers indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Challenging traditional theoretical determinism, which assumes that exogenous fiscal incentives guarantee market success, the findings reveal the insufficiency of a purely normative comparative advantage. Consequently, the study concludes that effective competitiveness is not a static state, but rather an endogenous and adaptive process driven by managerial agency. This phenomenon is articulated through innovation as a cross-cutting axis, aligning critical internal forces such as transformational leadership, human capital sophistication, digital transformation, and strategic planning. In doing so, this work deconstructs homogeneous, Eurocentric frameworks, highlighting the operational resilience of Colombian SMEs in the face of the structural failures within their territorial environments.
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