Development of the Mexican User Satisfaction Index (IMSU) to Evaluate Social Government Programs in Mexico: The Case of the Daycare Social Program

Abstract

The Mexican Customer Satisfaction Index (IMSU), a national index based on the ACSI, has recently been developed. It is being used to evaluate beneficiary satisfaction with social programs, and to create models that explain the causes and consequences of that satisfaction. Government officials in Mexico are asking whether social programs should be evaluated based on beneficiary satisfaction, rather than on the basis of efficiency measures and economic indicators. According to the results of our research, the authors believe social programs should be evaluated based on beneficiary satisfaction as well as efficiency measures and economic indicators. Thus far, several social programs have been evaluated with this index, and the results have yielded important insights into what really matters to people, the strengths and weaknesses of each program assessed, and an idea of where improvements should be made. This article summarizes the methodology (including qualitative analysis, the satisfaction model, questionnaire, and structural equations model) and the results obtained for one of the social programs involving Daycare. The results have been shared with social policy makers, and we are hopeful that IMSU will gradually become a central tool for the improvement of social programs and related government policies in Mexico.