Center

Becker Friedman Institute Latin America

Becker Friedman Institute Latin America (BFI-LATAM) is a groundbreaking effort that aims to deepen economists’ understanding of Latin American economies and to produce new insights on the most critical policy challenges facing Latin America today.

Fernando Alvarez

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics has established BFI Latin America as a platform to highlight contributions of scholars from UChicago’s Griffin Department of Economics, Booth School, and Harris School of Public Policy. BFI Latin America builds on the legacy contributions of UChicago economists to produce frontier research on the most challenging issues facing Latin American economies today, and to share those findings with the world.

Universidad Andrés Bello

The Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) and the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) at the University of Chicago are collaborating on an academic agreement that aims to foster the exchange, production, and dissemination of research ideas focused on the most relevant issues in economic policy for Latin America.

Through this agreement, UNAB and BFI support cutting-edge research involving scholars from both institutions, host conferences and seminars in both the United States and Latin America, facilitate the exchange of professors and students between both institutions, and eventually launch a new data hub designed to support new research and contribute to economic policy through the dissemination of this work throughout Latin America

Insper

Through their research collaboration, BFI and Insper produce cutting-edge research involving scholars from both institutions, host a series of conferences and workshops on key topics to foster exchange, and develop a pipeline of early career researchers trained in frontier methods of economics research.

A new research professional exchange program for Insper students feeds into BFI’s renowned research professional program, which consists of nearly 80 early career researchers in residence supporting UChicago economics faculty. The program wgives some of the best graduating students from Insper the opportunity to be matched with UChicago faculty for two-year research appointments.

The academic partnership between BFI and Insper was made possible through the support of the Haddad Foundation. Claudio Haddad is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Insper, a member of the BFI Advisory Council and President of the Board of the Haddad Foundation. He received his PhD in Economics from The University of Chicago in 1974 and previously served as director responsible for public debt and open market operations for the Central Bank of Brazil. He later served as partner and then chief executive officer of Banco de Investimentos Garantia SA, a Brazilian investment bank.

Visit bfilatinamerica.uchicago.edu

Associated Scholars

UChicago Scholar

Fernando Alvarez

Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics
Visiting Scholar

Felipe Balmaceda

Andres Bello University
UChicago Scholar

Maria Angélica Bautista

Senior Research Associate, Harris Public Policy

Luis Bettencourt

Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program at University of Chicago
UChicago Scholar

Christopher Blattman

Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Harris School of Public Policy; Deputy Director of BFI Development Economics Center
UChicago Scholar

Leonardo Bursztyn

Saieh Family Professor, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics; Co-Director of BFI Political Economics Initiative

Rene Caldentey

Professor of Operations Management, Booth School of Business
UChicago Scholar

Christopher Campos

Assistant Professor of Economics, Booth School of Business
UChicago Scholar

Emanuele Colonnelli

Associate Professor of Finance and MV Advisors Faculty Fellow, Chicago Booth
UChicago Scholar

Jonathan Dingel

Associate Professor of Economics, Booth School of Business
UChicago Scholar

Oeindrila Dube

Philip K. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Harris Public Policy; Director of BFI Initiative for the Study of Gender in the Economy
Visiting Scholar

Felipe Gonzalez

Queen Mary University of London
UChicago Scholar

Lars Peter Hansen

The David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Statistics, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business; Director of BFI's Macro Finance Research Program
UChicago Scholar

James Heckman

The Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Harris Public Policy
UChicago Scholar

Koichiro Ito

Professor, Harris Public Policy
The Weiss Fund, UChicago Scholar

Michael Kremer

University Professor in Economics and the College and the Harris School of Public Policy, Director of the Development Innovation Lab

Alicia Menendez

Research Associate, Associate Professor, Harris Public Policy and the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics
UChicago Scholar

Eduardo Montero

Assistant Professor, Harris Public Policy
UChicago Scholar

Thomas Rauter

Assistant Professor of Accounting and IBM Corporation Faculty Scholar, Booth School of Business
UChicago Scholar

James Robinson

The Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict; Institute Director, The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Harris Public Policy
UChicago Scholar

Esteban Rossi-Hansberg

Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor, Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics; Co-Director of BFI's International Economics and Economic Geography Initiative
UChicago Scholar

Amir Sufi

Bruce Lindsay Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Booth School of Business
UChicago Scholar

Austin Wright

Associate Professor , Harris Public Policy

Associated Research

BFI Working Paper·Jan 9, 2025

Emission Prices, Biomass, and Biodiversity in Tropical Forests

Lars Peter Hansen and José Scheinkman
Topics: Energy & Environment
BFI Working Paper·Mar 28, 2024

Bourbon Reforms and State Capacity in the Spanish Empire

Giorgio Chiovelli, Leopoldo Fergusson, Luis Martínez, Juan David Torres, and Felipe Valencia Caicedo
Topics: Tax & Budget
BFI Working Paper·Mar 13, 2019

A Framework for Studying the Monetary and Fiscal History of Latin America, 1960-2017

Timothy J. Kehoe, Juan Pablo Nicolini, and Thomas J. Sargent
Topics: Monetary Policy

Associated Insights

Research Briefs·Aug 3, 2023

Constitutions and Order: A Theory and Evidence from Colombia and the United States

Leopoldo Fergusson, Javier Mejia, James A. Robinson, and Santiago Torres
Absent institutions strong enough to influence a country’s distribution of resources, some constitutions deliberately allow for violence among citizens as a credible means for more powerful political parties to incentivize the less powerful to opt into governance.
Research Briefs·Jul 6, 2023

Carbon Prices and Forest preservation Over Space and Time in the Brazilian Amazon

Juliano J. Assunção, Lars Peter Hansen, Todd Munson, and José A. Scheinkman
With modest transfers per ton of net CO2, Brazil would find it optimal to choose policies that produce substantial capture of greenhouse gasses in the next 30 years, suggesting that the management of tropical forests could play an important role...
Topics: Energy & Environment, Financial Markets
Research Briefs·Jul 6, 2022

Politics at Work

Emanuele Colonnelli, Valdemar Pinho Neto, and Edoardo Teso
Evidence from two decades in Brazil shows that individual political views spill over from political to apolitical domains and have real economic consequences, including on firm hiring and management practices.
Topics: Employment & Wages