My UM
My UM
Search

A.I. Lopez Garcia

I am an Assistant Professor of Global Migration in the Department of Politics, and a member of both the Globalization, Transnationalism and Development (GTD) Research Group  and the Centre for Gender and Diversity (CGD) at FASoS.

My research interests lie at the intersection of development studies and the political aspects of international development, with a special interest in the topic of international migration. 

My work explores how connections with migrants abroad influence state capacity and the political attitudes and behavior of those who remain in origin countries via financial remittances and return migration.

My research covers a range of topics, including corruption, public goods, taxation, crime and violence, and gender inequalities in developing economies. 

A central theme in my work is financing development, by harnessing migrant remittances, but also by promoting tax justice for informal workers and improving taxation in countries affected by conflict and organised crime. 

I also study the political consequences of organised crime violence and state responses (militarization) in peacetime countries.

Broadly, my work contributes to ongoing debates on statebuilding, democratization, sustainable peace, gender justice and inequality reduction in low- and middle-income economies.

In most of my research, I use quantitative methods of analysis.

My work has appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Studies in Comparative International Development, Development and Change, Policing and Society, Political Studies, Oxford Development Studies,  Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Migration Studies, Comparative Migration Studies, International Migration,  Latin American Politics & Society, Journal of Politics in Latin America, among others.

My research has been generously supported by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER),  the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD),  the Gerda Henkel Foundation,  the Zukunftskolleg at the University of Konstanz, the Research Valorisation Fund at FASoS, and Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT).

Most recently, my article "Taxing Higher Incomes in Haiti", co-authored with Prof. Dr. Sarah Berens (University of Bremen), received the Best Paper Award at the International Studies Association's 2024 Virtual Conference.

I am currently working on projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.

I occasionally consult for development organisations, such as WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Organizing and Mobilizing).

Expertises
  • Political economy of international (labour) migration
  • Political economy of organised crime and violence
  • Political economy of taxation and redistribution
  • Political behavior in developing countries
  • Politics of Latin America
  • Survey research 
Career history

I hold an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Mexico's Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM), and an MPhil in Latin American Studies at St. Antony's College, Oxford University, and a DPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) at Nuffield College, Oxford University.

Since completing my graduate studies, I have held visiting research positions at the Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies, the German Institute of Global Affairs in Hamburg, and the University of California in San Diego.

Prior to employment at Maastricht University, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz.

Since 2018, I am a member of Mexico's National System of Researchers  (SNI - Level I)