About Byron Villacis
I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon. My research examines how organizations, experts, and data infrastructures shape the production of authoritative knowledge, with particular attention to official statistics, population measurement, economic expertise, and anti-corruption. I work across sociology and demography using relational quantitative analysis, archival research, interviews, and cross-national data.
I received my PhD in Sociology and Demography from the University of California, Berkeley, where I also earned an M.Sc. in Demography. I also hold an M.Sc. in Economics from FLACSO and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Before joining Oregon, I was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowdoin College.
I received my PhD in Sociology and Demography from the University of California, Berkeley, where I also earned an M.Sc. in Demography. I also hold an M.Sc. in Economics from FLACSO and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Before joining Oregon, I was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowdoin College.
Research & Teaching Interests
My research and teaching span economic sociology, demography, quantitative methods, and the sociology of expertise and quantification, with a broader focus on organizations and institutions.
My current research investigates how expert authority is produced through organizations, standards, classifications, and technical infrastructures. Across projects on national statistical offices, censuses, economic expertise, and anti-corruption governance, I examine how institutions determine which forms of knowledge become authoritative, whose categories become visible, and how technical systems redistribute organizational power.
Before entering academia, I served as Director General of Ecuador’s National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), where I directed the 2010 Population Census and oversaw more than 35 national surveys. That experience continues to inform my research on statistical organizations, population measurement, and the relationship between technical expertise and state authority.
I have also worked with international organizations on statistical capacity and measurement. Most recently, I have served as an international consultant to the United Nations Statistics Division and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, including as lead author of the 2026 Practical Guide to Measuring Corruption.
I have also worked with international organizations on statistical capacity and measurement. Most recently, I have served as an international consultant to the United Nations Statistics Division and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, including as lead author of the 2026 Practical Guide to Measuring Corruption.
Public Engagement & Data Activism
My research is closely connected to public engagement around statistics, data accountability, and the social consequences of measurement. I use social-science research to make technical debates about official statistics and population data accessible to broader publics and to strengthen informed scrutiny of the institutions that produce them.
I co-founded the Latin American Observatory of Population Censuses (OLAC), an academia–civil society initiative that promotes statistical literacy, transparency, and public oversight of population censuses across Latin America. Since 2016, OLAC has produced more than 200 public-facing analyses and educational materials on census methodology, institutional practices, and the quality and transparency of official statistics. I also coordinate the official citizen oversight initiative examining Ecuador’s 2022 Population Census, recognized by the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS).
I also write and speak publicly about population, statistics, and data governance. My commentary has appeared in outlets including El Universo, El Telégrafo, OpenDemocracy, and GK. My work has also been featured or discussed by media including The Washington Post, France 24, Folha de S.Paulo, Clarín, and other outlets across Latin America and Europe.
I also write and speak publicly about population, statistics, and data governance. My commentary has appeared in outlets including El Universo, El Telégrafo, OpenDemocracy, and GK. My work has also been featured or discussed by media including The Washington Post, France 24, Folha de S.Paulo, Clarín, and other outlets across Latin America and Europe.