About Byron Villacis
I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon. Prior to joining UO, I was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bowdoin College. I obtained my PhD in Sociology and Demography at the University of California—Berkeley where I also got an M.A. in Demography. I also have an M.Sc. in Economics from FLACSO and a B.A. in Economics from the University of San Francisco de Quito.
Research & Teaching Interests
My research and teaching interests span economic sociology, quantitative methods, and the sociologies of quantification, expertise, and corruption.
My dissertation, under the guidance of Marion Fourcade, focuses on the social life of public numbers and their role in legitimizing expertise in anticorruption policies. Envisioned as a book, the manuscript is a socio-history of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), a statistical construct that shaped modern governance on a global scale.
Prior to completing my PhD I was head of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses in Ecuador, where I led the 2010 Population Census and administered more than 35 national official surveys. I also founded and directed private research companies and I am a consultant for international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank and corporations such as Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. I am a Senior Fellow of the Corruption in the Global South Research Consortium and a Board Member of the Research Committee of Sociology of Population of the International Sociological Association (ISA).
Data Activism
As a public speaker and data activist, I use tools, methods, and concepts of social science to construct bridges to broader audiences in an accessible manner.
I co-founded the Latin American Observatory of Population Censuses (OLAC), which has produced, since 2016, more than 200 didactic pieces analyzing and evaluating the transparency of public statistics. I am the head coordinator of the official oversight of the 2022 population census in Ecuador, officialized through the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS). I regularly contribute to newspapers such as El Universo, El Telégrafo and digital outlets such as Open Democracy, GK, and the Dollarization Observatory. In addition, I have been quoted and interviewed in outlets such as: