Civil Service, State Capacity, and the Political Economy of Governance in Mexico

Abstract

Does bureaucracy reflect the underlying structure of political power in society? I exploit Spanish naming conventions and two regression discontinuity designs of close elections to study patronage and nepotistic hiring in Mexican federal government. I focus on the impact that political cycles have on bureaucracy’s composition at the expense of capacity development of career civil service officials. To do so, I explore a novel administrative database including detailed demographic, educational, financial, career, and employment information for all federal Mexican bureaucrats and all legislative candidates from 2000 onwards.

Raúl A. Castro Corona

Research Economist

My research interests include political economy, economic development, and international economics.