Vidal Romero holds a BA in Law from the Universidad de Guadalajara, a Master’s degree in Public Policy from ITAM, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University. He is member of Mexico’s National Researchers System, Level 2. He is associated researcher at the Program on Poverty and Governance at Stanford University, and affiliated faculty at the Center on Energy and Natural Resources at ITAM. He was Tinker visiting at Stanford University. Romero has collaborated on different research projects with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, The National Endowment for Democracy, Mexico Evalúa, and The Wilson Center.

Romero’s academic research has investigated on presidents’ decision-making and approval; the determinants of free-market reforms; the effect of different organization forms at indigenous communities on public goods allocation; and the political-economy of fiscal decision-making. His current research examines the conditions under which governments are able to establish order in their territories. Romero’s work investigates into the conditions that allow governments and criminal organizations to penetrate society. His work also analyzes different communal forms of organization, and how these different forms impact the likelihood of observing mutually beneficial transactions between communities and, public and private, enterprises on mining and energy projects.

His work has been published in multiple edited volumes and journals, such as Política y Gobierno, Latin American Research Review, Revista Latinoamericana de Opinión Pública, Latin American Politics and Society, Revista de Ciencia Política, Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, and Political Research Quarterly.