Professional Affiliation

Columnist, El Pais; Instructor of US-Mexico politics at Harvard Summer School

Expert Bio

Viri Ríos is a Mexican journalist and academic. She is a columnist at the European newspaper, El País, and an instructor of U.S.-Mexico politics at Harvard Summer School.

Profiled as a “mover and shaker of Mexico’s civil society” by the British magazine The Economist, Viri is a thought leader, writer and activist that relies on cutting edge data analysis and research journalism to advance an acute understanding of the most pressing social problems of Mexico, and to convey creative solutions to them. Her most recent book, #NoEsNormal. The rigged game that fuels Mexican inequality and how to change it, explores how to create a fair, inclusive, and prosperous Mexico by changing fiscal, labor and competition regulations.

Her academic research has led her to become a visiting assistant professor at Harvard and Purdue University, as well as to receive the American Political Science Association's award for the best public administration dissertation in 2014. As an activist, Viri was selected as a “Young Global Leader 2020” by the World Economic Forum due to her “vision, courage and influence to drive positive change in Mexico”.

Aside from her work as an academic and activist, she regularly works as a private advisor for top public and private leaders, helping them identify, measure, and expose counter-intuitive policy truths using data. She has advised a broad range of public and private sector leaders.

She holds a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.

Wilson Center Project

"The economic impacts of violence and crime in Mexico"

Project Summary

Viridiana explores the mechanisms under which violence, criminal activity and lack of rule of law reduce economic activity. Using Mexican subnational areas as her laboratory, she explores how labor productivity, economic growth and employment generation have been affected by changes in conflict intensity, particularly as a result of Mexico's recent escalation in criminal violence. Her goal is to assess whether productivity is reduced the most for firms whose inputs are related to USA markets and for individuals working at the services sector.

Viridiana’s research contributes to unravel the mechanisms under which rule of law impacts economic development in order to be able to define policies targeted towards the geographic or economic sectors that disproportionally bear the cost of violence and conflict.

Major Publications

#NoEsNormal. The rigged game that fuels Mexican inequality and how to change it