Susan Parker earns first prize in the Premio Banamex de Economía

A new working paper co-authored by MPRC Associate Director Susan W. Parker has earned first prize in the prestigious Premio Banamex de Economía, awarded annually by the Bank of Mexico. The paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, examines Mexico’s 2019 decision to dismantle Prospera, one of the world’s most influential conditional cash transfer programs, and replace it with the less targeted Becas Benito Juárez initiative. Parker and her colleagues find that the rollback led to steep declines in school enrollment, especially among high-school-aged boys, reversing decades of progress in education and social mobility.

The authors argue that the shift away from a rigorously evaluated, highly effective anti-poverty program to the Becas Benito Juarez initiative weakened program targeting and conditionality, with immediate harm to poor communities. Parker notes that the decision was politically motivated despite extensive evidence of Prospera’s success.

“[The award] really means a lot to me. It’s a recognition of the importance of evidence-based policymaking and the perils of ignoring evidence in a setting where this is critical right now,” said Parker. She hopes the research will caution policymakers against abandoning proven social programs in favor of untested replacements.