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| Mexico Evalúa | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mexico Evalúa |
| Formation | 2011 |
| Type | Think tank |
| Headquarters | Mexico City |
| Leader title | Director |
Mexico Evalúa
Mexico Evalúa is an independent policy research center based in Mexico City focused on evidence-based analysis of public policy, fiscal transparency, and accountability. It produces evaluations, policy briefs, and data visualizations intended to inform stakeholders such as legislators, civil society organizations, and international institutions. The organization engages with academic partners, multilateral agencies, and media to promote informed debate on public interventions and institutional reform.
Mexico Evalúa conducts applied policy research on topics including public finance, anti-corruption, social programs, and regulatory performance, drawing on collaborations with institutions such as Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, El Colegio de México, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Banco Mundial, and Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos. Its outputs include policy reports, scorecards, and open datasets referenced by actors in the Cámara de Diputados (Mexico), Senado de la República (Mexico), Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, and by civil society groups like Transparencia Mexicana and Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación. Mexico Evalúa interacts with international networks that include Open Government Partnership, International Budget Partnership, Inter-American Development Bank, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Mexico Evalúa was established in 2011 amid debates over fiscal reform and public program evaluation that involved actors such as Enrique Peña Nieto, Felipe Calderón, and policy advisers from Brookings Institution, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Center for Global Development. Founders and early collaborators included researchers affiliated with Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Universidad Iberoamericana, and the Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social; they sought to create an independent platform comparable to international centers like RAND Corporation and Institute for Fiscal Studies that could adapt methodologies from J-PAL and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab for Mexican conditions.
The organization operates as a nonprofit research center governed by a board that draws members from academia, former public officials, and civil society organizations, paralleling governance models at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, American Enterprise Institute, and Inter-American Dialogue. Leadership has included directors with backgrounds at Universidad de las Américas Puebla and experience in consultancies such as McKinsey & Company and Deloitte. Advisory councils have incorporated experts linked to institutions like Harvard Kennedy School, London School of Economics, University of Chicago, and Stanford University. Project teams often include partnerships with units from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and research groups from Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
Mexico Evalúa employs quantitative and qualitative methods drawn from experimental and quasi-experimental literatures exemplified by Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Angus Deaton, as well as administrative data techniques used by Gabriel Zucman and Thomas Piketty. Its methodological toolkit includes randomized controlled trials modeled after J-PAL, regression discontinuity designs used in studies by Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist, difference-in-differences approaches popularized in applied work by David Card, and machine learning classification techniques akin to those used by teams at DeepMind and Google Research. Research topics align with policy debates involving programs such as Prospera, public budgeting frameworks in Ley de Disciplina Financiera, and anti-corruption initiatives tied to Sistema Nacional Anticorrupción.
Major projects have included evaluations of conditional cash transfer programs similar to Prospera assessments, fiscal transparency scorecards used by municipal authorities in states like Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Jalisco, and performance audits of public procurement referenced by cases involving Pemex and Comisión Federal de Electricidad. Mexico Evalúa analyses have been cited in legislative debates in the Cámara de Diputados (Mexico) and by municipal governments in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Puebla. Internationally, its work has been used in reports by the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, World Bank, and United Nations Development Programme and discussed at conferences hosted by Latin American Studies Association and Council on Foreign Relations.
Funding has come from a mix of philanthropic foundations and multilateral grants, including foundations such as Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as project support from Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, and bilateral agencies like United States Agency for International Development and UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Partnerships extend to Mexican institutions including Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica, Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos Personales, and academic units at Universidad Anáhuac and ITESM.
Critiques have centered on perceived proximity to international funders and policy agendas associated with institutions like International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and debates over the choice of evaluation methodologies echo controversies involving Randomized controlled trials in development economics and critiques by scholars linked to Cambridge University and University College London. Some civil society actors, including Red por la Rendición de Cuentas and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas critics, have questioned methodological transparency and the influence of private donors on research priorities. Discussions about data access and confidentiality have referenced standards promoted by OECD and contested practices observed in cases involving Secretaría de la Función Pública.
Category:Think tanks based in Mexico