Susan W. Parker

Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland

@susanwparker_mx

Susan W. Parker is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, Associate Director of the Maryland Population Research Center, Affiliated Professor at the Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) and Non Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. She was previously a Professor of Economics at CIDE in Mexico City. As an empirical economist and demographer, she studies policies which promote development and reduce poverty in Latin America and has particularly studied the evaluation of programs and public policies in Mexico. Among other outlets, her research has been published in: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Demography, Economic Journal, International Economic Review, Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Human Resources, and the Journal of Political Economy.

Recent work by Susan W. Parker

Rolling back Progresa: What happened when Mexico’s landmark cash transfer programme ended?

The sudden rollback of Mexico’s landmark conditional cash transfer programme—Prospera, formerly Progresa—affected boys’ educational outcomes disproportionately, offering lessons for policy retrenchment worldwide.

Education

Fernanda Marquez-Padilla Susan W. Parker Tom Vogl

Published 29.04.25

Supporting the transition to digital cash transfers in rural Mexico

Women in Mexico who switched to digital cash transfers face higher costs and time accessing payments but gain bargaining power. Improving ATM access, reducing fees, providing timely information on the date of transfers and boosting financial literacy...

Social Protection

Fernanda Marquez-Padilla Susan W. Parker

Published 21.01.25

Mexico’s preschool mandate set children up to succeed

Mexico’s preschool mandate in 2002 shows significant, lasting benefits for cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills after six years, and educational outcomes nearly two decades later.

Education

Jere Behrman Ricardo Gomez-Carrera Susan W. Parker Petra Todd Weilong Zhang

Published 07.10.24

The long-term effects of cash transfers: Mexico’s Progresa

Conditional transfers in childhood improve education, labour, and economic outcomes in adulthood, especially for women

Social Protection

Susan W. Parker Tom Vogl

Published 17.12.18

Susan W. Parker

Recent work by Susan W. Parker

Rolling back Progresa: What happened when Mexico’s landmark cash transfer programme ended?

Supporting the transition to digital cash transfers in rural Mexico

Mexico’s preschool mandate set children up to succeed

The long-term effects of cash transfers: Mexico’s Progresa