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This paper presents a systematic review of the scientific literature on participatory monitoring (PM) in Mexico in order to understand its dimensions and usefulness for decision-making and public environmental policies. For this, a conceptual scheme of the mp is proposed from the socioecosystemic perspective (SEPM) in accordance with interdisciplinary scientific approaches and citizen science, through eight structural dimensions. The qualitative method of analysis was based on the application of the Search, Assessment, Synthesis, Analysis (SALSA) protocol, and the use of Scopus and scielo databases. The results first describe general spatial and temporal trends for Latin America and, subsequently, focus on the analysis of 24 preselected and coded publications for Mexico, considering monitoring criteria related to eight structural dimensions of the conceptual scheme. It is observed that the SEPM in Mexico has increased since the year 2000, the scale has been local, the land tenure dominant of social property, the regional scope, and has been more applied to the forest, water and agroforestry socio-ecosystems. The sepm has great potential for decisionmaking at different organizational levels, especially when it is implemented in an integrated manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analize four competitiveness indices for Mexican federative entities produced by two local higher educational institutions and two local agencies. The results indicate that while these studies require indicators to continuously improve their quality and explanatory power, these changes are greater compared to the main international competitiveness indices. Relevance and reliability for the economic planning will be greater for decision makers, policy makers and individuals concerned as usefulness and benchmarks in the design and monitoring of local public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the historical construction of the concept of rural development in Mexico, particularly is a synthesis of its institutionalization and its evolution in public policy by governments and development agencies. We emphasize the contents of the various rural development approaches, methodologies and the role of government. All this in order to reflect on the prospects of the Mexican rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private transfers are a market mechanism that changes the inequality in the distribution of income. Should the government increase or reduce the size of Pareto efficient public transfers after observing an increase in inter vivos private transfers that reduces (increases) inequality in the distribution of income? In this paper we provide an answer to this question. Our analysis identifies conditions in which private transfers change income inequality and crowd out government's transfers in a targeted redistributive program, but increase the size of public transfers in a broad base redistributive program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the spatial patterns and trends of vehicle theft crimes in Mexico City. Data on arrests and criminal warrants are examined at the municipality and police sector levels. Also, series are examined in a yearly, monthly and daily fashion. This allows the detection of hot spots and the probabilistic forecasting of vehicle theft crimes on a daily basis. This is performed within reasonable limits of data reliability, sampling error, and in disconnection from theoretical postulates. Findings are discussed in relationship to criminal prevention policy actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the finance policy through contestable extraordinary funds implemented by the Mexican Ministry of Public Education in the state public universities between 2001 and 2005. The results show that this allocation mechanism of public resources has been effective to reward their institutional consolidation. It has also improved their social returns and their contribution to the educational equity through a better quality higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the experience of organized women groups in the municipality of Cunduacán, Tabasco, México, during the period of 2004 to 2007. This was a process in which some women from rural communities fought to defend their rights and demanded public policy, municipal regulations and state laws that protect them. During that process, municipal government created the Care for Women Coordination. The activities of the Coordination and women groups put the local agenda in items of women's rights and gender equity. With these references, we discussing about citizen action in the construction of public policies, with two relevant elements in this experience: Requiring a political openness of a local government product of alternating partisan, as well as the press for change of persons and communities involved. The other element was that in an effective way to solve a social problem, the government structure and its policies must be adapted to the social demands. The Care for Women Coordination is an example of transversely attention of women problems based on participation of them [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of regulation of natural gas pricing in Mexico as a case of "successful" policy research. Studies done under an academic agreement between the Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City have analyzed the welfare efficiency implications of the netback rule based on the Houston gas price that is used to set the domestic gas price. This rule results from a well structured welfare maximization general model. However, in practice the netback rule has been debated during several North American price spikes. Policy makers relied on CIDE studies to keep the netback rule. This case study examines how and why policy makers did so. The debate within the Mexican government is analyzed, and the actors involved in the policy discussions are described, as well as the relationships between CIDE and CRE that were developed, and that helped in the communication with policymakers. The methods of dissemination of research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico's water policy has been dramatically reformed over the last dozen years. Centerpieces of the reforms are new legal regimes, different roles for water authorities and a decentralized management of water resources. Water reform is based on a vision of water as an economic good, and its uses are driven by market dynamics. Rather than keeping its role as developer, the State is responsible for allocating and regulating water uses. This paper has a two-fold purpose. First, it aims at assessing the pros and cons of neoclassic economics, which has exerted a deep influence on the water reform. Second, it uses some indicators of performance (e.g. investments and fees) to evaluate some results of the water reform. It shows that water reform has been relatively successful in some economic respects (e.g. reduced governmental investments). Yet less attention has been paid to key issues such as access to the resource by different sectors (equity) and the environmental impacts of water systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on the relevance of routines as a part of the current institutional framework in the context of Mexican local governments. Its purpose is to analyze the implementation network considered in the Law of Sustainable Rural Development, in relation to the procedures the new normative framework establishes, like guidelines of forced behavior for the municipal governments, and, simultaneously, as a condition for success for one of its modalities of execution. The authors consider if the implementation network fits the actual way municipalities effectively pursue rural development policy. In this way, they try to identify the organizational adjustment that exists between the new policy design and the routines previously adopted by local governments. The hypothesis is that local governments tend to adapt the new policy to their own routines, instead of modifying their behavior in relation to the new policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper detects market power at the two digit level in the Mexican manufacturing sector for the period 1970- 1991. Similarly to Hall (1988), the identification assumption is that total factor productivity growth is not procyclical. The test holds even for the case in which the market power coefficient is variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]