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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 classifies demand and supply side into occupations using machine learning techniques.
These are profiles in: Google Scholar, RePeC, SSRN, Research Gate, ORCID, Scopus.
Contact: benjamin.villena.r (at) gmail.com
News
News
Aug 25, 2025: A comment on El Mercurio on the relevant information to consider when increasing the minimum wage in Chile.
Aug 17, 2025: Our paper "Deconstructing Job Search Behavior" has been conditionally accepted at Labour Economics. Finally!
Aug 7, 2025: Interview on Radio Infinita on the null employment growth, the importance of labor market policies, and more.
Aug 6, 2025: Interview on Radio Agricultura on the decrease of labor participation, the effect of minimum wage increases, and economic policies to foster female employment.
Aug 5, 2025: Interview on Radio Biobio on the situation of non-employed, non-student youngsters in Chile and the general situation of the labor market.
Aug 4, 2025: Some comments for El Mercurio on the situation of "ninis" (youngsters who don't work nor study) in Chile.
Aug 2, 2025: A new column on a proposed severance payment reform in Chile in Ex Ante.
Aug 1, 2025: Some reactions to the poor performance of the Chilean labor market during April-June 2025 in LUN.
Jul 25, 2025: Brief appearance in a note in Chilevision (approx. 3:20) about the labor market situation during the times Jeannette Jara and Evelyn Matthei were Ministers of Labor Affairs. Both are now candidates for the next presidential election in Chile.
Jul 24, 2025: An interview in Radio Duna / La Tercera on the recent spike of unemployment in Chile, particularly for females.
Jul 19, 2025: A new column in El Mostrador addressing the attempt of some Chilean representatives to rule out the UF, the accounting inflation-indexed unit widely used for financial contracts, and its potential implications.
Jul 15, 2025: A new column in La Tercera on the puzzling simultaneous rise of unemployment and decrease of informality in Chile.
Jul 14, 2025: A letter to the editor in La Segunda in which I refer to the potential impact of increasing the minimum wage up to 750,000 CLP (around 787 USD per month), i.e. 40% higher than today's value.
Jul 7, 2025: Some comments on the new developments on arbitrary tariffs of the Trump administration in Emol.
Jul 3, 2025: I participated in an interview (La Tercera / Radio Duna) on the effects of the Middle East geopolitical situation and its impact on the Chilean economy.
Jul 2, 2025: Some of my comments on the project that reduces bureaucratic procedures for investments in Chile in Emol.
Jul 2, 2025: Some comments about the short term growth in Chile quoted in Publimetro.
Jun 28, 2025: A new column on Ex-Ante about the complex war scenario in the world and its impacts on the Chilean economy.
Jun 18, 2025: Appearance in a note on CNN Chile about the new rise of layoffs in Chile during April 2025 and the slow pace of the labor market.
Jun 13, 2025: My new column on the proposal for reducing severance payments in the Chilean labor market in La Segunda.
Jun 5, 2025: I received an award from Universidad Andres Bello as a distinguished researcher in the Sustainable Global Goal 8 "Decent Work and Economic Growth"
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