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I am an Associate Professor at the Institute for Economic Policies, Universidad Andres Bello (Santiago, Chile).
My current research interests are Macroeconomics, Labor Economics, and Political Economy.
Here you can find my C.V.
I am a principal researcher in the Nucleus LM2C2 (Labor Market Mismatch: Causes and Consequences) and an adjunct researcher of the MIPP (Millenium Institute on Market Imperfections and Public Policy)
I am also co-director of the SABE project (Sistema de Análisis de Bolsas de Empleo), which gathers and harmonizes real-time data from job ads and applicants from multiple online job boards in Chile and classify demand and supply side into occupations using machine learning techniques.
These are profiles in: Google Scholar, RePeC, SSRN, Research Gate, ORCID, Scopus.
Contact: benjamin (at) benjaminvillena.com
News
News
Apr 12, 2025: A new version of our paper "Deconstructing Job Search Behavior" is available. Hopefully the last one!
Apr 9, 2025: My comments on inflation of March 2025 in Publimetro.
Apr 8, 2025: A new article regarding the new trade protectionism of the Trump administration in La Tercera.
Apr 7, 2025: A column in La Segunda on the unforeseen effects on informality and tax revenue of the new proposal of university funding in Chile.
Apr 5, 2025: A letter regarding the new trade protectionism of the Trump administration in CIPER Chile.
Apr 3, 2005: My comments on the impact of the massive increase of tariffs of the Trump administration in EMOL.
Apr 2, 2005: I was interviewed again at Radio Agricultura on the impact of the new law proposal for the tertiary education funding system in Chile, particularly its implications for informality.
Feb 15, 2025: My comments on the effects of the aging of the Chilean population appear in El Mercurio.
Jan 30, 2025: I was interviewed again at Radio Agricultura on the side effects on the labor market of the just-approved pension reform in Chile.
Jan 28, 2025: Felipe Balmaceda and I wrote a column for La Tercera explaining some advantages and multiple weaknesses of the pension reform under discussion in Congress.
Jan 22, 2025: La Segunda posted my column on the effects on informality of the large increase in pension system contributions.
Jan 15, 2025: I was interviewed at Radio Agricultura on the effects generated by the proposed increase of pension system contributions in Chile.
Jan 10, 2025: I was interviewed at La Tercera / Radio Duna on the impact of informality for the pension system reform in Chile.
Jan 10, 2025: A letter to El Mostrador explaining why increasing pension contributions in Chile today will likely backfire due to the response of informality to larger labor costs.
Jan 4, 2025: A column in ex-ante on the stance of the Chilean labor market in 2025 highlighting the new minimum wage rise, the high unemployment, and the side effects that the potential reform to the pension system could imply.
Jan 2, 2025: My opinion on the new IMACEC of November 2024 (short-term GDP) was portrayed by emol.com.
Dec 26, 2024: I participated in the Fifth PUC Alumni Meeting. This year I was conducting a conversation over lunch on finding topics for research.
Dec 17, 2024: I presented our paper "Local Government Networks and Disaster Risk Reduction Investments" at the Workshop on Institutional Causes and Consequences of Local Efforts to Reduce Risk and Adapt to Extreme Weather Events at Universidad Austral de Chile, in Valdivia.
Dec 12, 2024: I presented our paper "What s/he wants in a job" at the 2014 Winter SED Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Nov 22, 2024: I presented our paper "Local Government Networks and Disaster Risk Reduction Investments" at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Nov 14, 2024: I presented our paper "What s/he wants in a job" at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Nov 11, 2024: I am starting my visit at the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago.
Nov 5, 2024: I participated in a discussion panel on Flexibility in the Labor Market, an activity jointly organized by LM2C2 and M-NEW research institutes.
Oct 30, 2024: El Mercurio quoted excerpts of my opinions in an article on the recent reduction of young people who neither work nor study.
Oct 30, 2024: I presented our paper Working hours policy reform: micro and macro impacts (with M. Tejada) at the 2024 Workshop in Program Evaluation.
Oct 29, 2024: La Tercera publishes my views on the reasons for the low growth of the Chilean economy in the last decade.
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