This paper studies long-term trends of self-employment in Chile. Self-employment is associated with poor job conditions, vulnerability, and instability or informal labor market. Contrary to what is expected, self- employment level does not respond to macroeconomic variables. Using forty-one...

Using household surveys that cover more than 50 years of the political and economic history of Chile, we investigate changes in the shape of the distribution of income in Chile, and in the composition of top 10% and top 1% incomes. In line with international evidence, top incomes concentration...

Using household surveys that cover more than 50 years of the political and economic history of Chile, we investigate changes in the shape of the distribution of income in Chile, and in the composition of top 10% and top 1% incomes. In line with international evidence, top incomes concentration...

This study estimates the causal effect of family size and birth order on educational attainment of individuals in the long run. Following recent literature we use the presence of twins as an instrumental variable for family size and fixed effects model for birth order. The results suggest that...

In 1980, Chile dramatically reformed its retirement system, replacing what was an old insolvent PAYGO program with a new structure that relies heavily on funded defined contribution individual accounts. In addition, eligibility and benefit requirements were standardized, and a safety net for...

The adjustment of the information obtained from household surveys to make the figures compatible with National Accounts is a non-standard and potentially questionable practice given that it alters the structure of income distribution. This paper analyzes the sensitivity of inequality and poverty...

Financial literacy and schooling attainment have been linked to household wealth accumulation. Yet prior findings may be biased due to noisy measures of financial literacy and schooling, as well as unobserved factors such as ability, intelligence, and motivation that could enhance financial...

Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and noncognitive abilities appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic...

This study isolates the causal effects of financial literacy and schooling on wealth accumulation using a new household dataset and an instrumental variables (IV) approach. Financial literacy and schooling attainment are both strongly positively associated with wealth outcomes in linear...