Congratulations to Dr. John Hayes on successful PhD thesis defence!

In September, John Hayes successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled, “Mining, Institutional Change, and Mexico’s Natural Resource Governance in Comparative Perspective, 1988-2018.”

John’s thesis develops a theoretical explanation of changes in Mexico’s natural resource governance policies related to mining over three decades. Drawing upon elite interviews and document analysis, John’s thesis provides a nuanced examination of changes in land tenure, environmental policy, labour, and investment and taxation policies during a period of rapid political and economic change in Mexico. He argues against simplistic characterizations of policy change, highlighting the ways in which economic and government targeted some policy areas for significant reform while leaving others relatively untouched. The result is a careful and detailed examination of how primary sector industries, like mining, can be targets for policy reform.

John’s thesis research was funded by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Since 2022, John has been affiliated with the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy program on Extractive Resource Governance. In 2025, he will take up a postdoctoral research position at Calgary.

Congratulations, John!