Planificación territorial y gasto público en gobiernos parroquiales rurales

Territorial planning constitutes a strategic instrument for guiding the allocation of public expenditure in rural parish governments; however, in many territories there are persistent limitations in the articulation between planning instruments and budget programming processes, which generates dispersion of public investment and reduces efficiency in the execution of financial resources. The objective of the study was to analyze the relationship between territorial planning and public expenditure behavior in rural parish governments. The research was conducted under a quantitative explanatory approach with a non-experimental cross-sectional design, using secondary information from institutional planning reports, budget execution records, and territorial statistics. The data were organized in analytical matrices and processed through inferential and multivariate statistical techniques, including Cronbach’s Alpha (α = 0.87), the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, ANOVA, and the Chi-square independence test. The results reveal a positive and statistically significant relationship between territorial planning and public expenditure execution (r = 0.66; p < 0.01), while the regression model indicates that territorial project prioritization is the most influential predictor (β = 0.45; R² = 0.62). In addition, ANOVA identified significant differences in expenditure execution according to the level of territorial planning (F = 7.84; p < 0.01). These findings indicate that territorial planning strengthens financial management efficiency and improves the strategic orientation of public investment in rural territories.