Research Professor in Economics

Research Professor in Economics

The School of Social Sciences and Government at Tecnológico de Monterrey is seeking an accomplished economist to help lead our next generation of frontier research on the economic issues shaping Mexico, Latin America, and the world. We are looking for a scholar with rigorous grounding in economic theory and empirical methods — someone who can turn data, causal inference, and economic modeling into insight that changes how governments, firms, and societies respond to their most consequential challenges.

About the School

Our strategic intent is to contribute to a deep understanding of reality through cutting-edge social science knowledge and applied research solutions that innovate and transform the economic, public, and social spheres. Organized around four Broad Areas — Government and Policy Innovation, Critical Frontiers in Economics, Political Regimes and Global Affairs, and Legal Systems of the Future — the School convenes a community of roughly 50 researchers, supported by a dedicated Data Science Center, a Lab for Advanced Analytics & Decisions, Decision-Making Theaters, a Public Opinion and Behavioral Research Lab, Law Clinics, and a growing portfolio of strategic initiatives, including an AI for Public Policy program. Economics faculty are especially active within the Lab for Advanced Analytics & Decisions, which applies frontier quantitative and computational methods — causal inference, structural modeling, and machine learning — to high-stakes economic and public-policy questions.

Our researchers regularly partner with RAND Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, and leading global universities, translating rigorous research into decision-relevant tools for governments, multilateral organizations, and civil society.

The School's Department of Economics is ranked #1 in Mexico and #4 in LATAM for Economics & Econometrics in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026. Our undergraduate and graduate students, mentored by Economics faculty, are consistent participants and winners in Mexico's most important national competitions in the discipline, including “Reto Banxico” (Central Bank of Mexico), the “Premio INFONAVIT de Economía”, and the “Premio Nacional de las Finanzas Públicas”. The Department is also a founding member of “La Tríada”, a strategic alliance with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), two of Latin America's strongest economics departments.

The Opportunity

We are recruiting a Research Professor whose work advances the frontier of economics — theoretical, empirical, or both — and speaks to consequential questions for the public and private sectors alike. Candidates should be equally comfortable presenting to an academic seminar and to policymakers or industry leaders.

The position will serve primarily the Economics program (LEC), with significant secondary contributions to Government and Public Transformation (LTP) and International Relations (LRI). We are prioritizing candidates who fit one of the following two research profiles:

• Behavioral economist — with methodological depth in behavioral economics (lab and/or field experiments, choice architecture, applied behavioral theory). Preference will be given to candidates who have applied this lens to the financial domain (household finance, investor behavior, financial inclusion, or related areas).
• Financial economist with data science expertise — with strong command of modern data science and machine learning methods applied to finance. Preference will be given to candidates working in macroeconomic domains (asset pricing, monetary policy transmission, financial stability, macro-financial forecasting, or related areas).

Across both profiles, we expect frontier-level econometric and quantitative rigor, and a research agenda with clear relevance to public- and private-sector decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct and publish frontier, high-impact research (Scopus/Web of Science Q1–Q2) advancing economic theory, empirical methods, or both, on questions of substantial academic and public relevance.

• Design and lead externally funded research programs, securing competitive grants from multilateral organizations, foundations, government agencies, and industry partners.

• Contribute to undergraduate and graduate teaching and mentoring within the Economics (LEC) program, with cross-listed courses for LTP and LRI.

• Collaborate across the School's research infrastructure — the Data Science Center, the Lab for Advanced Analytics & Decisions, Decision-Making Theaters, and Strategic Initiatives — and with international academic and policy networks, including La Tríada.

• Translate research into public-facing analysis, tools, or policy products that inform decision-making in government, industry, and civil society.

• Contribute to the School's path toward the Top 100 of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, including doctoral supervision and research leadership as the position matures.

• The Ideal Candidate

• Ph.D. in Economics, Behavioral Economics, Finance, or Financial Economics, with a specialization aligned to one of the two profiles above. For the behavioral track, a Ph.D. with a strong behavioral/experimental economics component (or a closely related field, such as Psychology or Decision Sciences, with a demonstrated economics research agenda) is also welcome. For the financial-data-science track, a Ph.D. with a strong quantitative core — Financial Economics, Econometrics, or Data Science with a finance/macro-finance application — is also welcome.

• This is a genuinely open-rank search. We welcome candidates at all career stages — from recent Ph.D. graduates with an outstanding research trajectory to established scholars at the Associate or Full Professor level, or an equivalent research position in academia, a think tank, or a multilateral institution.

• A strong record of frontier research, evidenced by publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and a clear trajectory of continued scholarly influence.

• A proven, verifiable track record of attracting competitive external research funding from national or international sources, such as research councils, multilateral development banks, foundations, or government agencies.

• Demonstrated technical fluency aligned to the candidate's profile: for the behavioral economics track, experience designing and analyzing lab and/or field experiments and applying causal-inference methods (randomized controlled trials, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity) to financial decision-making; for the financial economics track, mastery of data science and machine learning methods applied to macro-financial questions, along with strong grounding in time-series and macro-econometric modeling.

• Experience designing or contributing to policy-relevant analysis, evaluations, or decision-support tools used by governments, firms, or multilateral organizations.

• Excellent written and spoken English; Spanish is an asset but not required at hiring.

• Preference will be given to candidates holding degrees from, or with substantial academic experience at, institutions ranked within the Top 200 of the QS World University Rankings (QSWUR).

• The Kind of Work You'll Join

A sense of the frontier, data-driven research our School is already leading:

• SISEPUEDE — an open-source simulation platform for decarbonization pathway analysis across Latin America and the Caribbean, developed with RAND and the Inter-American Development Bank.
• Ciudad Finita — a public data platform diagnosing urban sprawl, housi