J Alejandro Mencías Vega

I am an economist with postgraduate studies in Economics (AU) and Social and Solidarity Economics (ESP). Currently, I am a PhD sudent in Develpment Studies at EHU-UPV.

I have strong quantitative skills, applied to impactful research and communication. I have conducted research for various organizations across Latin America and Spain, and my expertise is further enhanced by certifications in Gender and Feminist Economics, Antipatriarchal Masculinities for Political Social Organizations, Political Communication, and Advanced R Programming.

My work focuses on advancing gender mainstreaming, promoting social and solidarity economics and tax justice, while continuously developing skills in strategic communication and advanced data analysis tools.

jamesmencias@gmail.com

Jameson Alejandro Mencías

SKILLS

LANGUAGES

🇪🇸 Spanish [Native]

🇬🇧 English [C1]

🇵🇹 Portuguese [Beginner]

EDUCATION

Phd Student Development Studies

UPV/EHUInicio – UPV/EHU

🇪🇸 2024 – current

Master of Social and Solidarity Economics

UPV/EHUInicio – UPV/EHU

🇪🇸 2024

Master of Economics

The University of Queensland

🇦🇺 2015

Economist

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

🇪🇨 2012

Certifications

Gender Economics – FLACSO
Taxation and Gender – CIAT
Feminist Economics – LATINDADD
Antipatriarchal masculinities for political social organizations – Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Political Comunication – CELAG
Advanced R Programming – COURSERA (certified)
Economic Geography and Spatial Econometric Modelling – FLACSO

PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS

Study of Taxation and Gender

see

This document aims to be a useful tool for professionals working in tax administrations, contributing to broadening the technical scope of analysis and strengthening institutional capacities. Moving towards gender-responsive taxation is not only a matter of social justice, but also a prerequisite for strengthening the legitimacy, progressivity, and effectiveness of tax systems. Tax administrations are strategically positioned to lead this process, contributing to building fairer and more inclusive states.

Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems in the Basque Country: Dynamics of the Olatukoop Environment

see

Document presented for the Congress on the Promotion of the Social Economy: Fiscal Instruments and Public Policies
Valencia – September 26-27, 2024

Impact of the BDSKoop Association in Bidasoaldea since 2019.

see

Mencías, J., 2024 – BDSKoop

Perú: reglas fiscales y control del déficit afectan derechos de la población y desarrollo humano

see

Mencías, J. 2022 – Latindadd

Mujeres sin ingresos propios en Ecuador: autonomía económica y vulnerabilidad a la pobreza frente a shocks inflacionarios.

see

Mencías, J. 2022 – Latindadd

Financial dependency of Municipal GADs and the generation of own revenues in Ecuador

see

Mencias, J. 2017 – Revista Propuestas para el Desarrollo, año I, número I, página 79-91.

The case of the Environmental Tax on Vehicle Pollution in Ecuador

see

Mencias, J. 2017 – Notas de Reflexión Política Fiscal y Tributaria, Centro de Estudios Fiscales, No. 42, Abril 2017.

Identificación de posibilidades de cooperación monetaria y financiera regional como mecanismos efectivos para enfrentar impactos de crisis económicas

see

De la Torre, C., Kohls, F. y Mencias, J., 2012 – Investigación Económica, Volumen 4, pp. 13-87.

The case of the Environmental Tax on Vehicle Pollution in Ecuador

see

Mencias, J., 2022 – CLADE, TJN, Latindadd

WORK EXPERIENCE

CIAT - GIZ

Research Project Coordinator

Project: Gender and Taxation

Longitudinal study on Taxation and Gender from the perspective of the tax administrations of CIAT member countries

2024 – currently

Atukoop

Podcast host of Cable a Tierra (season II)

Research, coordination for production and locution

Aug 2023 – current

CELAG

Collaborative researcher

Undertake under-demand short term economic and geopolitical research about latinamerican countries R programing instructor.

Aug 2023 – current

LATINDADD

Consultant

Main researcher of report “Financing Education and Tax Justice: regional perspective from Latin America»

August 2022 – October 2022

Observatorio Económico Latinoamericano (OBELA) National Autonomous University of México (UNAM)

Collaborative research associate

Research and writing OBELA analysis report about the economy of Latin American countries

January 2022 – July 2022

LATINDADD

Collaborative research associate

Research and writing OBELA analysis report about the economy of Latin American countries

January 2022 – July 2022

LATINDADD

Researcher in project

Main researcher of report “Financing Education and Tax Justice: regional perspective from Latin America

August 2022 – October 2022

UNICEF ECUADOR

Senior Consultant: Social Lab Inec

Consultant to information generation related to childhood and adolescence from the data sources available in the Inec Social Lab and its inclusion in the visual tool with UNICEF Ecuador related to SGDs.

June 2019 – Oct 2019

VITAL STRATEGIES BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES

Senior consultant: Social Lab Inec

Research and writing OBELA analysis report about the economy of Latin American countriesPlan and undertake research and methodological documents as part of the research agenda of the Data for Health Initiative in Ecuador related to SDGs.

Oct 2019 – June 2020

VITAL STRATEGIES BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES

Senior consultant: Social Lab Inec

Coordinate Bloomberg VS team in order to generate statistics, reports and social indicators from vital statistics in Ecuador related to SDGs. Knowledge transfer to Inec workers regarding the use of information processing tools using R free software.

Oct 2019 – June 2020

CENTER OF FISCAL STUDIES - SRI

Senior consultant: Social Lab Inec

Oct 2019 – June 2020

CENTER OF FISCAL STUDIES - SRI

National Expert in Fiscal Research and Studies

Planning and conducting fiscal and tax research. Data processing, statistical reports, and calculating the tax impacts of draft bills

Dec 2016 – Nov 2017

CENTER OF FISCAL STUDIES - SRI

National Coordinator of Fiscal Situation Analysis

Coordinate the fiscal situation analysis team. Plan and conduct fiscal and economic research, as well as tax reforms. Data processing, statistical reports, and calculating the tax impacts of draft bills.

Nov 2017 – Jan 2018

PONTIFICAL CATHOLICAL UNIVERSITY OF ECUADOR

Research Assistant

Research assistant to the project “Identificación de posibilidades de cooperación monetaria y financiera regional como mecanismos efectivos para enfrentar impactos de crisis económicas internacionales”. Data processing and indicators calculation.

Jan 2011 – Sep 2011

INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF QUITO CORPORATION - ICQ

Research Coordinator on Productive Transformation

Coordinate the research undertaken by the Productive Transformation team. Research on Quito’s Fiscal Sufficiency and General Government Fiscal Dependency. Data processing and statistical reports generation.

Mar 2016 – Nov 2016

INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF QUITO CORPORATION - ICQ

Research Coordinator on Productive Transformation

Undertake research related to the economy of the city of Quito. Project: Property tax reform in Quito. Data processing and indicators calculation.

Sep 2011 – Nov 2013

INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF QUITO CORPORATION - ICQ

Research Assistant

Main responsibility Research assistant to the project “Aplicación de un Banco de Desarrollo bajo la nueva Arquitectura Financiera Regional; implicaciones para el Ecuador”. Data processing and indicators calculation

Sep 2011 – Nov 2013

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND OTHER

TV Interview:

Nuestramerica TV. December 2022

TV Interview:

Do evasion and avoidance by large companies affect human development? Nuestramerica TV – March 2022

Another Collateral Damage? Latin American Fertilizer Market Dispute

OBELA Analysis Notes, (29)

The Molotov cocktail of hunger: inflation, shortages, climate crisis and war

OBELA Analysis Notes, (20)

Russia and Ukraine at war: the icing on the cake of global post-pandemic inflation

OBELA Analysis Notes

Russia sanctions: no one knows who they work for

OBELA Analysis Notes, (9)

CONFERENCES

Differentiated Distributional effects on gender of COVID-19 in the Ecuadorian Tax System

Project: Gender and Taxation

Longitudinal study on Taxation and Gender from the perspective of the tax administrations of CIAT member countries

July 2022

“Las Mujeres y las rentas del trabajo: vulnerabilidad económica por depreciación del salario real” (Women and labor income: economic vulnerability due to real wage depreciation).

IX International Week of Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.

Quito, Ecuador. Noviembre – 2019

Aproximación a los sesgos implícitos de género del Sistema Tributario del Ecuador: el caso de los gastos personales en el Impuesto a la renta de personas naturales. (Approach to the implicit gender biases of the Ecuadorian Tax System: the case of personal expenses in the personal income tax)

29 Annual Conference of the International Association of Feminist Economics (IAFFE 2021) Quito, Ecuador.

June 2021

“Desigualdad, Privilegios y Justicia Social” (Inequality, Privilege and Social Justice)

Encuentro Cono Sur por la Justicia Económica y Social.

Asunción, Paraguay. August – 2019

Mujeres sin ingresos propios en Ecuador: autonomía económica y vulnerabilidad a la pobreza frente a shocks inflacionarios. (Women with no income of their own in Ecuador: economic autonomy and vulnerability to poverty in the face of inflationary shocks.)

29 Annual Conference of the International Association of Feminist Economics (IAFFE 2021) Quito, Ecuador.

June 2021

"Los niveles de aglomeración de la Industria Quiteña y la teoría de la Localización"

UN-Habitat III – “Aportes Económicos al Desarrollo del Territorio”

Organized by the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.

PODCASTING

NEW!

Sustainability of life before debt

When debt is prioritized before life, the economic and social consequences are and have been devastating. Thinking that debt and life are not related is wrong. In this episode of Cable a Tierra we contrast the conditions that states have to pay the foreign debt with the conditions that we need as human beings to develop fully. We talk about the sustainability of life versus the sustainability of debt.