Researchers
Meet our team of economists and sociologists.
Felipe Balmaceda
DirectorFelipe Balmaceda
Director
Ph.D. in Economics – Cornell University Institute for Economic Policies, Universidad Andrés Bello.
Research fields: Industrial Organization, Labor Economics, Contract Theory.
Paola Bordón
Directora alternaPaola Bordón
Alternate Director
Ph.D. in Economics – University of Wisconsin-Madison, Facultad de Economía y Negocios Universidad de Chile.
Research fields:
Labor Economics, Education Economics, Applied Econometrics, Empirical Industrial Organization and Public Policy.
Mauricio Bucca
Main ResearcherMauricio Bucca
Main Researcher
PhD in Sociology, Cornell University
Facultad de Sociología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Research fields:
Labor Market Inequalities, Intergenerational Mobility and Beliefs Regarding Inequality.
Andrea Canales
Main ResearcherAndrea Canales
Main Researcher
PhD in Sociology, Oxford University, Instituto de Sociología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Research fields: Education, Social Stratification and Inequality, Gender.
Mauricio Tejada
Main ResearcherMauricio Tejada
Main Researcher
PhD. in Economics – Georgetown University, Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad Diego Portales.
Research fields:
Labor Economics, Structural Econometrics, Macroeconomics.
Benjamín Villena
Main ResearcherBenjamín Villena
Main Researcher
Ph.D. in Economics – University of Rochester, Institute for Economic Policies, Universidad Andrés Bello.
Research fields: Labor Economics, Macroeconomics, Political Economy.
Tania Hutt
Young ResearcherTania Hutt
Young Researcher
Tania Hutt is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Sociology of the Catholic University. She obtained her Ph.D. in Sociology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Research fields: Gender disparities in the workplace, employment, family dynamics, and organizational structures. Her research explores the ways in which transitions between family and work roles, and the decision-making processes involved in these transitions, contribute to the (re)production of gender, racial/ethnic, and economic inequalities within the labor market. This includes investigating patterns related to labor force participation, hiring practices, biases, stereotypes, and wage differentials.
Research Assistants
Ramiro Barrera
Research AssistantRamiro Barrera
Research Assistant
Ramiro Barrera is an economist and holds a master's degree in Economic Analysis from the University of Chile. His areas of expertise focus on Energy Economics, Environmental Economics, and Labor Economics, with a prominent emphasis on the practical application of microeconomics. With extensive experience as a research assistant and teaching assistant at the University of Chile and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, he has directed his work towards the analysis of applied economics in public policies.
Roberto Cantillán
Research AssistantRoberto Cantillán
Research Assistant
Rodolfo Matías Gómez
Research AssistantRodolfo Matías Gómez
Research Assistant
Rodolfo Matías Gómez is a Sociologist and a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. His areas of interest include household financialization, with a particular focus on indebtedness. Additionally, he has a prominent interest in mixed and computational methodologies in social sciences.
Joaquín Martínez
Research AssistantJoaquín Martínez
Research Assistant
Joaquín Martínez is a student of Commercial Engineering with a focus on economic sciences at the University of Chile. His areas of interest include political economy, the labor market, and industrial organization. Currently, he is focused on researching educational and skill mismatches in the Chilean labor market, exploring their relationships with the pandemic and automation.
Exequiel Padilla
Research AssistantExequiel Padilla
Research Assistant
Exequiel Padilla is currently a Ph.D. student in the Doctorate Program in Engineering Systems at the University of Chile. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master's degree in applied economics, both from the same university. His area of interest focuses on the design of mechanisms and markets.
Marlene Rivas-Muena
Research AssistantMarlene Rivas-Muena
Research Assistant
Marlene Rivas-Muena is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where she also obtained her Master's degree in Sociology. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Chile. Her work focuses on the study of educational inequalities in academic trajectories and labor markets, using data and comparative and longitudinal research designs. Currently, she is a co-investigator on a Fondecyt Regular project (2023-2026) that examines educational inequality, analyzing factors such as reading comprehension, motivation, and self-efficacy perception in teaching and learning processes in Chile.
Felipe Rodríguez Madariaga
Research AssistantFelipe Rodríguez Madariaga
Research Assistant
Felipe Rodríguez Madariaga is an Industrial Civil Engineer and holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics from the University of Chile. He has dedicated his career to research in macroeconomic labor models and empirical and econometric methods. Additionally, he has significant interests in areas such as development macroeconomics, international trade, and political economy.
Elisa Tagle
Research AssistantElisa Tagle
Research Assistant
Elisa Tagle is a fourth-year sociology student at PUC. She has been a teaching assistant in various sociological theory, economics, and statistics courses. Additionally, she has worked as a research assistant with Prof. Mauricio Bucca on the projects "Patterns of intermarriage among first-generation immigrant and native populations in Latin America" and "Class-based naming dynamics in 20th-century Chile, the imitation (and distinction) game." Her interests are analyzing sociological and economic data, statistics, and sociological theory.
Gonzalo Torres Rosales
DoctoranteGonzalo Torres Rosales
Doctorante
Psychologist, Master in Science, Technology and Society, and Master in Methods for Social Research. He has worked professionally in Non-Governmental Organizations, developing research and social projects related to poverty, education, and employment, and has been a consultant for organizations such as the UNDP and the Ministry of Education of Chile. He is currently a doctoral student in Sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he researches topics of social inequality, economic complexity, and human development.
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