Participation in the Network “The Economic Consequences of Crime in Mexico”, CIDE, Mexico City, 29-30 September.

I took part in the Conference “The Economic Consequences of Crime in Mexico” as part of a research network devoted to study the political economy aspects of crime and its consequences for politics and economics in that country. The network is coordinated by my colleagues and co-authors Carolina Garriga Phillips and Sandra Ley. Together with Sandra Ley and José Eduardo Ibarra-Olivo, we presented a first draft on the impact of High Profile Attacks (HPAs) against politicians and the emergence of regimes of criminal governance on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), at the municipal level. Our preliminary results suggest that this type of crimes does not deter foreign investments and argue that in this type of regimes, collusion among investors and criminals, who have in turn taken over the political and security apparatus at the municipal level (a process that the HPAs makes visible), ends up producing “mafia peace” outcomes. Stay tune!