Welcome to this website

I am currently an Assistant Professor of the Center for Applied Economics, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Chile.

Contact: benjamin (at) benjaminvillena.com

My current research interests are Macroeconomics, Labor Economics, and Political Economy.

Here you can find my C.V.

Research Papers:

Macroeconomics / Labor Markets:

Aggregate Implications of Employer Search and Recruiting Selection (CEA WP 272, Revise & Resubmit)

Wage Dispersion and Recruiting Selection (CEA WP 271)

Unemployment, Participation, and Worker Flows over the Life Cycle (joint with S. Choi, UA Barcelona; and A.Janiak, Center for Applied Economics, U of Chile) (old version: CEA WP 278, new version: Barcelona GSE WP 617) [submitted]

Hiring Selectivity and Business Cycle Dynamics in the Labor Market [work in progress]

Self-Employment and Market-Tightness in Chile [work in progress]

Children / Family Economics:

Causal Effects of Maternal Time-Investments on Children's Cognitive Outcomes (joint with C. Ríos-Aguilar, Claremont Graduate University) (CEA WP 285) [Online Appendix here

Does Maternal Time Affect Children's Behavior? A Generalized Family Value-Added Approach [work in progress]

Political Economy / Political Science:

Participation in Organizations, Trust, and Social Capital Formation: Evidence from Chile (joint with P. Valdivieso, Universidad de Los Lagos) (CEA WP 293, Revise & Resubmit) [Online Appendix here]

A Spatial Model of Voting with Endogenous Proposals: Theory and Evidence from the Chilean Senate (joint with M. Triossi, Center for Applied Economics; and P. Valdivieso, Universidad de Los Lagos) (CEA WP 294) [Submitted] [Online Appendix here]

Teaching:

Macroeconomics (IN4203) : introductory course at undergraduate level, for Industrial Engineering major.

Macroeconomics II (IN759): Master level course that covers growth, business cycles, capital markets, and money.

External links

My profiles in Google Scholar (here), RePeC (here), and SSRN (here)