People
Viridiana Rios
Viridiana Rios
Graduate Student
Comparative
Mexico, poverty and drug traffic
Biographical Note:
Viridiana Rios is a doctoral fellow of the Inequality & Social Policy Program. She studies drug traffic, inequality and poverty in Mexico. Her research is quantitatively oriented and addresses issues on institutional quality and economic development. She studied her BA in Political Science at ITAM, in Mexico City, and graduated top of her class. Before going to Harvard, she worked as Deputy Director of Special Projects at the Mexican Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL), and as consultant for USAID, the World Bank Mexico, and the United Nations. In her free time, Viridiana has adopted alternative careers as music lover, amateur Mexican chef, perpetual new-experiences seeker and careless dancer.
Papers:
| Title | Abstract |
| To be or not to be a drug trafficker. Modeling criminal occupational choices. | Income inequality, wages, law enforcement and abilities distribution determine who and why people becomes a trafficker. |
| Economic impacts of Mexico's drug traffic. | Illegal-drug industry generates economic losses of about 4.3 billion dollars annually, and employs 300,000 individuals. |
| Can poverty be reduced everywhere? The role of location in poverty-relief policy efficiency | Poverty-relief programs are less effective when targeted into counties located away from markets. |
| Distance to markets and firm size in Mexico. | Firm size is determined by closeness to markets, not by institutional quality. |
| Customary political practices and Social Conflict in Oaxaca, Mexico | Recognition of Usos y Costumbres in non-indigenous counties of Oaxaca, Mexico, increased post-electoral conflicts. |
Opinion and journalistic articles:
| Title | Published at | Abstract |
| Poorer than we thought | Nexos, September 2009 | Mexico's poverty levels have increased, the world had done not a better job reducing poverty (Spanish version) |
| Who becomes a drug dealer and why? | Este Pais, August 2009 | Income, tastes and outside options determine who becomes a drug dealer in Mexico (Spanish version) |
| Why killing in Mexico is so cheap? | Esta Pais, July 2009 | Hitmen in Mexico are paid below market prices but receive other forms of bonus compensations (Spanish version) |
Email Address
vrios@fas.harvard.edu
Phone
(617) 997 2471
Office Location
1737 Cambridge Street CGIS-South Off.-311 Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Office Hours
Friday 10:00am - 12:00pm at Forum, HKS
Courses
Advanced Microeconomic Theory
Applied Econometrics
Advanced Quantitative Methods
Advanced Quantitative Research Methodology
Mathematics for Social Scientists
Geographical Information Systems
Survey Design
Contract Theory
Politics and Economics
Social Economics
Inequality and Social Policy
Economic Development
Comparative Politics
Comparative Politics in LA
Political theory
