Bernardo Lara E.

Adolfo Ibáñez University · Escuela de Gobierno

This paper constructs a model of saving for retired single people that includes heterogeneity in medical expenses and life expectancies, and bequest motives. We estimate the model using Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old data and the method of simulated moments. Out-of-pocket medical expenses rise quickly with age and permanent income. Th...

Revealed preferences for equal college access may be due to beliefs that equal access increases societal income or income equality. To isolate preferences for those goods, we implement an online discrete choice experiment using social statistics generated from true variation among commuting zones. We find that, ceteris paribus, the average income t...

Using Chile as a case study for understanding tactical distribution under extensive controls on expenditure, this paper examines whether political motives affect the allocation of funds from the central government to localities. Collecting local-level data of two infrastructure funding programs and using the voting gap percentage between the coalit...

With the rising popularity of field experiments in economics, re-randomization schemes have emerged as tools to induce balance in observable variables across treatment groups. However, re-randomization is not fully understood and the methodologies to estimate its effects on the distribution of parameters are still under-developed. This paper helps...

The use of students' within-school grade point average (GPA) ranking has emerged as a means to increase admission rates of both segregated minorities and high-performance individuals. Based on that idea, Chile's centralized university admission system introduced, in 2012, a GPA-ranking score variable. In contrast to other ranking-based criteria, th...

We examine the complex relationship between campaign spending and electoral outcomes in local elections. We focus on (1) how spending influences the distribution of votes across candidates; (2) its impact on voter turnout; and (3) the differential effects of different types of campaign spending. Using the case of Chile’s 2016 mayoral elections, a c...

This paper quantifies preferences for income equality and mobility by generating statistics that are uncorrelated with beliefs and can be interpreted as marginal rates of substitution (MRS). All else constant, U.S. residents are willing to reduce average income by $2,744 to reduce the 90/10 income inequality ratio one unit and $1,228 to increase in...

Public subsidies incentivize private institutions to provide social services; however, incentives can elicit rent extraction activities. This paper studies such phenomena in Chile, where private and public schools receive attendance-based subsidies. Analyzing data from school-reported attendance against unique audit data, we find that pre-K and K12...

To improve the quality of education, one can either directly reward performance or introduce school choice, private provision, and demand subsidies. The Chilean voucher scheme combines both approaches: an attendance-related subsidy favors school choice and creates incentives for schools to promote attendance throughout the year. With imperfect moni...

Revealed preferences for equal college access may be due to beliefs that equal access increases societal income or income equality. To isolate preferences for those goods, we implement an online discrete choice experiment using social statistics generated from true variation among commuting zones. We find that, ceteris paribus, the average income t...

Using Chile as a case study for understanding tactical distribution under extensive controls on expenditure, this paper examines whether political motives affect the allocation of funds from the central government to localities. Collecting local-level data of two infrastructure funding programs and using the voting gap percentage between the coalit...

The aim of this paper is to calculate the rate of return and the net present value for several fields of university studies in Chile. The methodology employed involves the use of earnings over the life cycle for individuals after graduation. Our results indicate that there are large differences in the economic return to different majors. However, w...

The aim of this article is twofold. First, we show that despite students' disadvantaged backgrounds and despite not having more financial resources than similar schools, there are schools in Chile that serve low-income students and that obtain superior academic outcomes. Second, we present qualitative evidence to identify school and classroom proce...

This work examines the role played by women in the labor market pertaining to Chilean university professionals. Over the last century the role of women has changed paradigm, from zero or low levels of participation to a generalized participation. This article analyzes the different stages of such participation and the current wage differential betw...

Este trabajo mide la correlación entre el resultado de los escolares en la prueba SIMCE de cuarto básico y las características observables de los docentes, sus prácticas en el aula y sus percepciones respecto de las capacidades de los alumnos. El análisis busca explicar el desempeño de los niños en base a sus propias características, las de sus fam...

In this paper we analyze the effect of private voucher education on student academic performance using new data on Chilean students and a novel identification strategy. Most schools in Chile provide either primary or secondary education. We analyze the effect of private voucher education on students that are forced to enroll at a different school t...

In this paper we re-analyze the effect of private voucher education on student academic performance in Chile using new data and a novel identification strategy. Most schools in Chile provide either primary or secondary education. We analyze the effect of private voucher education on students that are forced to enroll at a different school to attend...