Scholars Who Became Practitioners: The Influence of Research on the Design, Evaluation, and Political Survival of Mexico’s Antipoverty Program Progresa/Oportunidades

Abstract

Celebrated by academics, multilateral organizations, policy-makers and the media, Mexicos Progresa/ Oportunidades conditional cash transfers program (CCT) is constantly used as a model of a successful anti-poverty program. Here I argue that the transformation of well-trained scholars into influential practitioners played a fundamental role in promoting a new conceptual approach to poverty reduction, ensuring the technical soundness and effectiveness of the program, incorporating rigorous impact evaluation, and persuading politicians to implement and keep the program in place. The involvement of scholarspractitioners also helped disseminate the new CCT technology to many countries around the world within a decade.

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“…Such research also showed the importance of granting resources to women/mothers rather than men/fathers, as the former are proven to be more effective in building poor children's human capital than the latter. These two findings are key pillars of the program, which has increased post‐primary school enrollment in rural areas by 24% and the demand for health services among Progresa/Oportunidades beneficiaries [by] 67% (Levy ; Lustig :6).…”

“…In 1997, there were only three programs that would qualify as CCTs programs. By 2008, however, the number of countries implementing such programs grew to 28 (Teichman ; Valencia Lomelí ; Fiszbein, Schady, Ferreira, Grosh, Kelleher, Olinto, and Skoufias ; Sugiyama ; Lustig ). As Nora Lustig () argues, scholars working in national governments, the World Bank, the Inter‐American Development Bank, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other institutions have been instrumental in diffusing the knowledge acquired through research and practical experience from one country to the other.…”

“…By 2008, however, the number of countries implementing such programs grew to 28 (Teichman ; Valencia Lomelí ; Fiszbein, Schady, Ferreira, Grosh, Kelleher, Olinto, and Skoufias ; Sugiyama ; Lustig ). As Nora Lustig () argues, scholars working in national governments, the World Bank, the Inter‐American Development Bank, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other institutions have been instrumental in diffusing the knowledge acquired through research and practical experience from one country to the other. Moreover, Sugiyama () has found that “neighborhood effects” (i.e., the share of a country's neighbors that have adopted CCTs) and not domestic conditions (e.g., a president's ideology, state capacity, and domestic needs) are the single best predictor of CCTs adoption in Latin America .…”

“…The potential for scholarly influence is limited in policy areas with short time horizons, as in the case of day‐to‐day diplomacy. It is greater in areas with long‐term horizons, such as development policy, where scholars have successfully introduced new ideas aimed at empowering women and reducing extreme poverty, as discussed above (Heredia ; Lustig ).…”

“…The “embedded intellectual capital” of scholars‐cum‐practitioners also has been a crucial part in Mexico's Progresa/Oportunidades anti‐poverty program because the practitioners who had a key role in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the program had been scholars themselves. All scholars‐cum‐practitioners involved in Progresa/Oportunidades “shared a solid academic background, a high regard for scholarly work and a genuine concern for making anti‐poverty programs effective” (Lustig :7–8). Even President Zedillo, a staunch supporter of the program, at the time of its launch, holds a PhD in Economics from Yale and worked as a researcher at the Bank of Mexico.…”