Claudia Avellaneda

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science, Texas A&M University, 2007
• M.A., Political Science, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 2002
• B.S. Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, Bogotá, Colombia

Courses

• Public Management
• Governance in Developing Countries
• Comparative Public Policy
• Latin American Politics and Political Economy
• Comparative Public Administration & Management

Biography

Dr. Claudia N. Avellaneda specializes in governance and public management in developing countries, with an emphasis on local governments. She joined the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2013, after serving as assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and graduate coordinator of Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Her main research interests are decentralization, public policy, innovation, governance, and public management, with a regional focus on Latin America. Specifically, Professor Avellaneda investigates determinants of government performance in Latin American municipalities by focusing on the role of the local chief executive — the mayor.  

In her field research, Professor Avellaneda conducts personal interviews and experimental analyses with Latin American mayors. She explores the impact of mayors'' education, experience, networking, and political support on social service delivery, public finances, tax collection, and decision-making. She has extended this line of research to Brazilian, Honduran, Colombian, and Salvadorian municipalities. Currently, her research focuses on the Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian, Guatemalan, and Ecuadorian municipalities.

Professor Avellaneda serves on the editorial boards of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, Urban Affairs Review, Fudan Public Administration Review, and Public Service Review (Revista do Serviço Público). She is also the international editor for the Journal of Behavioral Public Administration and an elected member of the 2017-2021 Public Management Research Association Governing Board.