espanolEl presente articulo analiza los principales elementos y variables relacionados con la calidad de las instituciones que pueden influir en el desempeno economico de la region Caribe colombiana. El objetivo central es aportar nueva evidencia al debate existente en torno a cuales son los factores asociados al desempeno institucional, especificamente de las organizaciones publicas departamentales de la region Caribe colombiana. La importancia de este tipo de analisis radica en que viene a promover e identificar mediciones relacionadas con la calidad institucional, pues si se logra establecer las causas del mal ejercicio de las organizaciones, principalmente las publicas, comienza el me- joramiento del desempeno economico de cualquier pais o nacion. EnglishThis paper analyzes the main elements and variables related to the quality of public institutions that can influence the economic performance of the Colombian Caribbean region. The main objective is to contribute with new evidence to the existing debate regarding factors that are associated to the institutional performance, specifically of the quality of public institutions of the Colombian Caribbean region. The importance of this type of analysis is that it serves as a point of departure to underline and to identify measurements related to the institutional quality, because the first step to improve the economic performance of any country or region is the establishment of the causes for the bad performance, mainly of the public institutions.