— About me

I am an Assistant Professor in Development Studies working on social policy, inequality, and social stratification, with a focus on Latin America. My research examines how political economies, labour markets, and institutional arrangements shape differentiated forms of inclusion and exclusion within and across borders.

My work connects quantitative political economy with interdisciplinary approaches to development, engaging with questions of informality, crisis, and the everyday experience of inequality. I collaborate with academic and policy audiences, linking research on social protection, migration, and economic transformation to broader debates on social and economic change.

— Affiliation

University Lecturer in Development Studies

Institute for History | Faculty of Humanities | Leiden University

I specialise in political economy, social policy, poverty, inequality, (in)security and migration, with a regional focus on Latin America. I teach across BA and MA programmes, supervise PhD candidates and collaborate with (inter)national organisations through research, consultancy, and public engagement.

— Studies

PhD in Development Studies

International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

  • A matter of choice? Cash Transfers and Narratives of Dependence in the Lives of Women in Southern Ecuador

MA in Development Studies
(Poverty Studies and Policy Analysis)

International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Máster en Organizaciones No Lucrativas y Economía Social

Universitat de València, Spain

BA in Economics

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

— Selected publications

Books and Edited Volumes

Palacio, M.G., Mideros, A., & Jara, X. (Eds.) (2024). Social Policy, Poverty, and Inequality in Ecuador 1980-2021 [Política social, pobreza y desigualdad en el Ecuador 1980-2021]. Centro de Publicaciones PUCE.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Palacio, M.G., & Jara, X. (2024). Rethinking Social Assistance amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Guaranteeing the Right to Income Security in Ecuador. Journal of International Development.

Palacio, M.G. (2021). Falling through the Cracks: Digital Infrastructures of Social Protection in Ecuador. Development and Change, 52(4). 

Palacio, M.G., & Díaz Pabón, F.A. (2021). Inequality and the Socioeconomic Dimensions of Mobility in Protests: The Cases of Quito and Santiago. Global Policy, 12(S2). 

Palacio, M.G. (2019). Institutionalising Segregation: Women, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Paid Employment in Southern Ecuador. Population and Development Review, 45(S1). 

 

See full list on my ORCID Profile 

— Research

My research focuses on social policy, inequality, and social stratification in Latin America, examining how political economy, institutions, and crises shape differentiated forms of inclusion and exclusion.

I analyse how welfare systems, labour markets, migration, and digital infrastructures structure vulnerability and citizenship within and across borders. My work combines quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical analysis and ethnographic research, and engages with interdisciplinary debates in development studies and political economy.

Current projects explore the political economy of insecurity in Ecuador and Chile, ontological security and everyday experiences of crisis, and the role of digital infrastructures in shaping social protection and visibility. I also develop methodological approaches such as proximity as method and examine how platforms and media environments reconfigure perception and political experience.

— Consultancy

Alongside my academic work, I collaborate with international organisations, development agencies, NGOs, and public institutions on research and advisory projects related to social policy, inequality, and political economy.

My consultancy work focuses on social protection systems, labour markets, informality, gender-responsive policy, and access to public services. I have conducted research on education access, exclusion from social registries, and the socio-economic dimensions of poverty and inequality in Latin America.

I have worked with organisations including UNU-WIDER, the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, UNDP, and national institutions, providing qualitative and quantitative analysis to support policy design, implementation, and evaluation.

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