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The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

In-person and online public event (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)

Speakers

Dr Valentina Contreras

Dr Valentina Contreras

Professor Julián Messina

Professor Julián Messina

Dr Sebastián Nieto Parra

Dr Sebastián Nieto Parra

Professor Andrés Velasco

Professor Andrés Velasco

Chair

Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira

Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira

Latin America is exceptionally unequal, with data widely suggesting it is one of the world’s two most unequal regions. Inequality has persisted at exceptionally high levels despite clear social pressures for its reduction and the widely shared conviction that excessive inequality is detrimental to economic progress.

The Latin America and Caribbean Review (LACIR), committed to addressing these challenges, convenes high-level scholars to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of the inequality problem in Latin America. Through a meticulous blend of in-depth critical reviews of the literature, pioneering research, and novel analyses, LACIR endeavours to deepen our understanding of this complex issue. This public event will present the scale of the problem of inequality in Latin America and point to some of the possible ways out of this ‘inequality trap’. Bringing together scholars and policymakers, the event will explore solutions and strategies to combat inequality in the region.

Meet our speakers and chair

Valentina Contreras (@Valentinaconsil) is a research officer at LSE International Inequalities Institute. In her research, Valentina uses econometric tools to understand the causes and consequences of gender and educational inequalities. She also coordinates The Latin American and Caribbean Inequality Review (LACIR), a collaborative project that brings together more than sixty scholars to produce a comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of the inequality problem in the region.

Julián Messina (@messinajulian) is a professor at Universidad de Alicante in Spain and a research affiliate of IZA. Prior to joining Universidad de Alicante, he worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and the European Central Bank, and he taught at several universities. His research interests include labour economics, inequality, and the economics of education.

Sebastián Nieto Parra (@snietoparra) is the Head of Latin America and the Caribbean at the OECD Development Centre. His research interests include financing for development, economic development, infrastructure and connectivity policies and political economy in emerging economies. Before joining the OECD, he was an economist for Latin America at Santander Bank, Madrid. He holds a PhD in Economics and completed his graduate studies in Economics at Sciences Po, Paris and Toulouse School of Economics.

Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2017-19 he was a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group. During 2015-16 he co-chaired the Global Panel on the Future of the Multilateral Lending Institutions. In 2013-16 he was a member of the Global Oceans Commission.

Francisco H. G. Ferreira (@fhgferreira) is the Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies at the London School of Economics, where he is also Director of the International Inequalities Institute. Francisco is an economist working on the measurement, causes and consequences of inequality and poverty in developing countries, with a special focus on Latin America.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting-edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024, taking place from 19 October to 9 November with events across the UK.

Podcast & video 

A podcast of this event is available to download from The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America.

A video of this event is available to watch at The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America.

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Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Artem Beliaikin via Unsplash

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