MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In relation to employment and equity, Chile has shown significant gains in recent years. There has been sgnificant progress in reducing poverty, and social spending has increased dramatically. However, inequality still constitutes a critical issue. Countless situations of social inequality continue to affect a significant number of Chileans.

With the aim of confronting the major challenges if this area, in August 2007, the President of the Republic Michelle Bachelet created a Presidential Advisory Council composed of public figures at the highest level, which for eight months discussed a set of proposals whose objective was to meet the challenges of social policy, labor market and industrial relations.

NIP Chile, through this site and its activities, aims to offer the latest academic research dealing with issues relating to Inequality, Poverty, Social Policy and Labor Market. The Chilean chapter is been coordinated by Dante Contreras and Jaime Ruiz-Tagle. In the past, Osvaldo Larrañaga acted as the chapter head.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTIONS

The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) was founded in July 1992 in order to encourage greater professional interaction and foster increased dialogue among researchers and practitioners who focus their work on the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. As a matter of policy, LACEA welcomes economists of all nationalities, theoretical orientations and policy perspectives. In 1996, LACEA launched its own annual international meeting. The first meeting took place that year in Mexico City, with the presentation of 157 papers and more than two hundred participants.

LACEA has since expanded its activities in several other directions. Together with the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, it created the Network on Inequality and Poverty (NIP) in 1998. LACEA is supported by grants from the Global Development Network, as part of its program on Regional Research Consortia capacity building, and the World Bank Development Grant Facility. The Annual Meetings receive grants from The World Bank, The Inter-American Development Bank, The Ford Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

NETWORK ON INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

The Network on Inequality and Poverty is an initiative that aims to advance the state of knowledge and expertise regarding the causes and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, and the whole range of policies, institutions, and social structures that influence their dynamics, as well as the impact of public action in Chile. It endeavours to promote the creation and dissemination of high quality research applied to Latin America and the Caribbean.

ORGANIZATION

The NIP is organized into fifteen national chapters, which operate with certain autonomy, and an Executive Committee that coordinates the Network and organizes common activities. The executive committee is composed of five members. Three members are elected from among the Heads of each National Chapter. In addition, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have one representative each. The fifteen national chapters are located in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The NIP has more than three hundred members based in 26 countries in the Americas and Europe.