UNAB-University of Chicago Partnership Marks Three Years of Advanced Research, Training, and Public Policy Impact

In 2023, UNAB, through the Institute of Economic Policy (IPE) at the School of Economics and Business, entered into a partnership with the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI). Since then, the partnership has focused on advancing cutting-edge research, developing highly qualified talent, and facilitating knowledge transfer.

The initiative has become a platform that has significantly strengthened UNAB’s research capacity, provided training for dozens of students, and raised the University’s international profile.

The partnership has also strengthened UNAB’s ability to inform public policy by generating evidence that has contributed to public policy debate and design.

“The partnership with the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute has become a platform connecting cutting-edge research with the major challenges facing Chile and the region, from crime and public safety to pensions, employment, and energy. It changed the scale and ambition of IPE and, with it, the scale and ambition of the School of Economics and Business and UNAB,” said IPE Director Nicolás Garrido.

Professor Garrido added that the partnership has allowed the Institute to “move beyond observing the frontiers of global economics from a distance and begin contributing to them alongside some of the field’s leading figures, involving our own faculty members in that work and bringing this evidence to decision-makers and thousands of students.”

For Juan Pablo Torres, Dean of UNAB’s School of Economics and Business, the partnership represents “one of the most significant milestones in strengthening our research strategy and engagement with public policy design.”

“The Becker Friedman Institute is not simply a research center. It serves as the central hub of the University of Chicago’s economics community, bringing together researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the University of Chicago Law School,” Torres said.

High-Level Research

Since 2023, the partnership has funded 20 research projects, resulting in more than 20 working papers that are currently in development or undergoing publication. These studies, grouped into seven research areas, have been conducted in at least six countries and jurisdictions, including Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil.

The research areas are Crime, Violence, and Public Safety, with eight supported projects; Labor Markets, with three; Regional and Urban Economics, with two; Industrial Organization, Technology, and Innovation, with two; Energy and the Environment, with two; Finance, with two; and Economic Theory, with one.

Winter School and Public Impact

The partnership has also trained 37 graduate students through two editions of the Winter School, held in 2024 and 2025, supporting the advanced development of highly qualified talent.

The Winter School has become the partnership’s primary academic training initiative, serving both graduate students and the broader academic community. It seeks to strengthen advanced economic research capabilities through courses in Macroeconometrics and Microeconometrics taught by Constantino Hevia of Argentina’s Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and Sergio Urzúa, a professor at the University of Maryland in the United States.

In terms of public impact, the partnership has organized eight international seminars, conferences, and workshops. These activities have reached nearly 2,000 people and brought together more than 50 leading economists. Among them was James Robinson, who participated in the UNAB-BFI Grant Workshop in September 2024, shortly before receiving the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. In November of that year, UNAB welcomed Thomas Sargent, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, who delivered the keynote address “Sources of Artificial Intelligence.”

Academic Mobility and Internationalization

The partnership has also created an active academic mobility network between Chile and the United States. Thirty-five faculty members from the University of Chicago and UNAB have participated in six international research stays to develop joint projects. University of Chicago faculty members have also visited UNAB to lead seminars, conferences, and public events.

Notable activities have included the Crime Workshop, featuring University of Chicago professor Chris Blattman; the launch of the Master’s in Economics and Data Science, led by Robert Shimer, then Director of the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics; and the annual meeting of the Chilean Economic Society (SECHI), organized by IPE UNAB at the Concepción Campus, with the participation of James Robinson.

Other highlights include the 26th International Economics and Finance Meeting, featuring Fernando Álvarez, Director of BFI-Latin America; the lecture “Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies,” delivered by University of Chicago professor Michael Albertus; and the lecture and workshop “Productivity as a Driver of Economic Growth: Challenges for Chile,” featuring University of Chicago professor Chad Syverson.

The partnership has also strengthened UNAB’s ability to attract international academic talent. During this period, the University welcomed researchers trained at leading international institutions, while its most recent call received 62 applications from highly qualified candidates.

In addition, the partnership has facilitated collaboration with eight institutions, including the Central Bank of Chile, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, the University of Maryland, and the University of Toronto.

Creation of the National Data Catalog

The National Data Catalog, led by Nicolás Garrido, is one of the most strategically significant initiatives to emerge from the partnership. It is a comprehensive catalog of databases available in Chile for empirical research, designed to facilitate and accelerate the development of new studies.

One of its central features is that it not only identifies and organizes datasets but also links each database to the academic studies in which it has been used. This allows researchers to quickly determine what information is available, how it has previously been used, and which research questions could be explored using it.

The catalog seeks to reduce barriers to accessing relevant information by enabling researchers to quickly identify available databases and related research. The initiative aims to position Chile and UNAB as regional reference points for data-driven research while supporting the work of Ph.D. students and international researchers.

Implementation is currently at an advanced stage. The technology development contract has been awarded, and researchers and specialists are working together to launch the platform.

Integration into an International Knowledge Network

For Professor Garrido, “high-quality, impactful research does not emerge from isolated projects. It emerges from communities that share standards, talent, and purpose. The agreement with the University of Chicago made precisely that possible: UNAB became part of an international network that produces cutting-edge knowledge and contributes, from Chile, to understanding and addressing the major challenges of development.”

“We now have the institutional capacity to position IPE, the School of Economics and Business, and UNAB as credible institutional counterparts to the University of Chicago, supported by an international collaborative network and a growing academic community. This is the foundation on which we will build the next cycle, 2027–2030,” Garrido concluded.