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Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) provides UMD students of all backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of experience with the opportunity to engage in scaffolded, multidisciplinary team-based projects. 

VIP Team Information

jpmart04@umd.edu

VIP Team

Budgets for Equity in Latin America

VIP Faculty Mentors:

jpmart04@umd.edu
jpmart04@umd.edu
jpmart04@umd.edu
jpmart04@umd.edu

Dr. Juan Pablo Martinez Guzman

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School of Public Policy

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Meeting Location, Day & Time:

Location: Room 2201, Thurgood Marshall Hall, School of Public Policy

Time: Thursdays, 2:00–3:30 pm 


Description:

Who benefits from what governments spend? 


This team studies how countries in Latin America and the Caribbean use their public budgets to reduce inequality, from gender-responsive budgeting to targets for regions and groups that have been left behind. Each student takes on one or more countries, collects budget documents, laws, and government reports, and helps build a public database of these practices. Over time, the team uses the database to compare countries, support short policy pieces, and share findings with policymakers and partners. Returning students lead the work on their countries, contribute to analysis, and mentor new members.

Methods:

  • Finding and reading budget documents, laws, and government reports

  • Building a research dataset: codebooks, coding documents, and checking each other's work

  • Organizing and analyzing data in spreadsheets and basic statistical software (R or Stata)

  • Comparing policies across countries

  • Assisting with policy pieces (research support, fact-checking, and proofreading) and presenting findings

Majors:

Students from any major are welcome. This Team may be particularly interesting for students from the following majors: 

  • Public Policy; 

  • Global and Foreign Policy; 

  • Economics;

  •  Government and Politics; 

  • Spanish Language, Literatures, and Cultures; 

  • Portuguese 

Preferred Interests:

No courses are required. We welcome students interested in inequality, public finance, and Latin America; coursework on Latin America is a plus. Reading knowledge of Spanish is strongly preferred, and Portuguese is desired for some members. We hope students will stay with the team for three or more semesters.

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