Kenneth Castillo-Hidalgo

Welcome! I am a PhD in Applied Economics from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). Currently, I work as a Postdoctoral fellow in Department ABC, at Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

My main research interests are in regional studies and economic geography, with a focus on regional development, market structure, technological change, and regional inequalities. My recent work explores how market concentration and digitalization shape income inequalities from a territorial perspective.

In 2024, I was honored to receive the 1st Place of the RSAI Young Researchers Prize.

Before entering academia, I worked as a Financial Consultant for mining workers unions in the context of collective bargaining processes.

You can find my CV here

Research

Publications

Working papers / Work in progress

Primary sector activities agglomeration and local human capital distribution
Spatial social capital and primary sector activities
Expansionary effects of market power increases
On the persistence of top firms: The role of sectoral complexity and regional embeddedness in Europe
Platformization and functional income inequalities

Where I am from

I was born in Antofagasta, in northern Chile.

The city grows between the Pacific Ocean and the Coastal Range, along the edge of the Atacama Desert.

Mining resources, the desert, and the sea have always been essential elements of this territory.

Antofagasta stands as a major growth hub in the northern zone of the country, characterized by its intensive mining activity, railways that run through the city, a multicultural population, and strong global connectivity through its port.

The Antofagasta Region is home to some of the world’s most significant copper and lithium deposits, hosting several of the largest copper producers on a global scale.

Beyond its economic importance, the natural beauty of the desert—embraced by the cold waters of the ocean—makes the Antofagasta Region a unique place on the planet.