María Victoria Murillo, born January 1, 1967, is an Argentine political scientist and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Columbia University. Renowned for her expertise in comparative politics, Latin American political economy, and state capacity, her scholarship examines the dynamics of labor unions, partisan coalitions, market-oriented reforms, public utilities, social policy, and institutional change in Latin America. She received her Licenciatura in Political Science from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and her PhD in Political Science from Yale University in 1996. Prior to her current role, she held academic positions at Yale University and Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Key publications include 'Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions, and Market Reforms in Latin America' (2001) and 'Political Competition, Partisanship, and Policy Making in Latin American Public Utilities' (2009). She has co-authored and co-edited several works on democratization, policy innovation, and state institutions in the region, contributing significantly to debates on how political competition influences economic policy outcomes. Her research draws extensively from fieldwork in Argentina and other South American countries, emphasizing empirical analysis.