Andrés Irarrázaval

Education

2027 (Expected): PhD in Economic History, LSE 
Advisors: Tim Besley  Chris Minns, Joan Rosés 

2026: Visiting PhD Student in Economics, Paris School of Economics
Host: Thomas Piketty

2020: MSc Economic History, London School of Economics
Distinction; Prize for Best Dissertation

2018: BSc Economics (five-year programme), University of Chile
Best Graduation Exam (First Distinction); Top 1% in National Entry Exam

2017: Exchange Programme in Political Science, Sciences Po (IEP, Paris)
Distinction in all subjects

Job Market Paper

"The Hidden Great Levelling: Subsistence, Growth and Surplus Distribution".
World Inequality Lab Working Paper (forthcoming), Paris School of Economics.
This paper reveals a global Great Levelling, invisible in standard top income shares. The average top 1% share of national income was 18% in 1820 and is 18% today, suggesting that elite power over resources has barely changed. Yet in poorer times, much of national income was tied to subsistence: transferring it to the top 1% would have left the other 99% below what they needed to survive. I factor this subsistence constraint into inequality measurement and study how the surplus, income above subsistence and therefore transferable, is distributed across 48 countries over two centuries. The average top 1% share of national surplus fell from 53% in 1820 to 19% today,  a 2.8-fold decline in elite control over transferable resources.
*Previously circulated as "The Long March Towards Equality: Theory and Evidence from Surplus Distribution"

Work in Progress

"The Fabric of Inequality in the Developing World: Property, Markets, or Redistribution?"
Using survey data for 100 countries, I decompose inequality into property, market income and redistribution, and show that the gap between developing regions and developed ones lies mainly in redistributive systems, owing to weak state capacity. Low taxation constrains funding for public goods, and high informality leaves most workers outside safety nets while working and with low pensions in old age.

"The Legal Pillars of Shared Prosperity: Insights From 200 Years of Constitutional Changes", with Nick Peyton (Oxford).
We code constitutions for 180 countries since 1783 into the first long-run de jure measure of how they distribute power, separating electoral from executive checks. We use abrupt constitutional changes to estimate their effects on development and inequality.

Technical Notes and Policy Reports

2026: with V. Corral, "Long-Run Redistribution and Post-Tax, Post-Transfer Income Inequality, 1820–1980: The First Country- and Policy-Specific Series". World Inequality Lab Technical Notes (forthcoming), PSE.
Will serve as the World Inequality Database (WID) 1820–1980 post-tax inequality series.

2021: with OECD staff, "Enhancing Economic Performance and Well-being in Chile". OECD, Paris. Policy chapters on pharmaceuticals, food, telecommunications, ports, & labour conditions.

2019: with OECD staff, "Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development 2019: Empowering People and Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality". OECD, Paris.

2019: with A. Martin and J. Williamson, "Recognition — An OECD Perspective: Policy Report Contributing to the Challenge Paper on Inequality and Exclusion". New York University Center on International Cooperation / Pathfinders, New York.

Research Experience and Fellowships

2026–present: Fellow, World Inequality Database, PSE

2021–present:  Fellow, Chilean Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES)

2017–2018: Research Assistant to José De Gregorio (former Governor of the Central Bank of Chile), University of Chile

Teaching Experience

2024–present: Lecturer of the course Latin America and the International Economy at LSE
Responsible for all course material: lectures, slides, assessments, and the reading list.

2023–2024: TA of "Stata Workshop" and "Latin America and the International Economy", Department of Economic History, LSE

2021–2023: Lecturer in Development and Economic History, University of Chile
Designed and taught two new courses — Economic History of Chile and Economic History of Latin America: Institutions, Inequality, and Development — and taught Macroeconomics IV (Development).

2017–2018: TA of "Macroeconomics II" and "Communication Skills", Faculty of Economics, University of Chile

2016: Volunteer Instructor of Civil and Political Rights at high schools, Chile
Taugh in distadvantaged public schools. The Aula Cívica Programme reintroduced civic education that had been removed from the curriculum during Pinochet.

Professional Experience

2020–2021: Junior Policy Analyst, OECD Economics Department, Paris
Office of the Director (Álvaro Pereira, former OECD Chief Economist), Country Studies. 

2018–2019: Intern, OECD Office of the Secretary-General, Paris
Inclusive Growth Initiative (Romina Boarini, Director of the OECD WISE/Inequality Centre). Contributed to three policy reports on inequality.

Honours, Awards, and Scholarships

2023: PhD Scholarship International Inequalities Institute, LSE

2020: Prize for Best Dissertation, MSc Economic History, LSE.

2019: Postgraduate Scholarship, National Agency for Research and Development, Chile

2018: First Distinction, Best Graduation Exam in Economics, University of Chile.

2014: Merit Scholarship, Top 1% in National University Entry Exam, University of Chile.

2013: Excellence Prize, Best Graduation Grades, Alliance Française High School, Santiago.

Conference and Seminar Presentations

2027: International Inequalities Institute and LIS Comparative Economic Inequality Conference (forthcoming), London.

2026:  LSE International Inequalities Institute (III): Statistical Methods to Understand Inherited Inequalities Seminar (forthcoming); Oxford Graduate Seminar in Economic and Social History (forthcoming); International Economic Association (IEA) World Congress, Belgrade; Economic History Workshop, PSE, Paris; World Inequality Conference, PSE, Paris; World Inequality Laboratory (WIL) Seminar, PSE, Paris; Seminar on Political Economy and Economic History (SPEECH), Department of Economics, LSE.

2025: The III at 10: New Directions in Inequality Research, International Inequalities Institute (III), LSE; Trans-Atlantic Doctoral Conference, London Business School; Welfare and Policy Conference (WAP), Bordeaux School of Economics; LSE Economic History Work-in-Progress Seminar; PSE–LSE Economic History Workshop, Paris; LSE Economic History Graduate Seminar; European Graduate Network PhD Conference, Pompeu Fabra University (Spain).

2024: Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ), Latin America Chapter, El Colegio de México, Mexico City; LSE International Inequalities Institute Seminar (III); LSE Institutions and Political Economy in Historical Perspective Workshop; RIDGE–LACEA Forum, Pontificia Universidad Católica (PUC), Santiago; Seminar on Political Economy and Economic History (SPEECH), Department of Economics, LSE; International Inequalities Institute Seminar (III); Economic History Sessions, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI), Santiago.

Before PhD: 2023: International Economic Association (IEA) World Congress, Medellín (Colombia); Tsinghua University International and Area Studies (IAS) Forum, Beijing; University of Chile, Department of Economics (DECON) Seminar, Santiago. 2022: RIDGE, University of Los Andes, Bogotá; COES International Conference, Diego Portales University, Santiago; Economic History Sessions, History Department, University of Chile, Santiago; World Economic History Congress (WEHC), Paris. 2021: University of Chile, Department of Economics (DECON) Seminar, Santiago.

References

Tim Besley, Professor, Department of Economics, LSE. t.besley@lse.ac.uk 

Thomas Piketty, Professor, Paris School of Economics. thomas.piketty@psemail.eu 

Chris Minns, Professor, Department of Economic History, LSE. c.minns@lse.ac.uk 

Jeremiah Dittmar, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, LSE. j.e.dittmar@lse.ac.uk 

Joan Rosés, Professor, Department of Economic History, LSE. j.roses@lse.ac.uk 

José De Gregorio, Dean and Professor of Economics, University of Chile. jdegregorio@fen.uchile.cl 

Dante Contreras, Professor of Economics, University of Chile. dcontrer@fen.uchile.cl