REPAL

REPAL is a new network of researchers (institutionally affiliated with universities in Latin America, North America, and Europe) interested in promoting and giving greater visibility to new studies in the political economy of Latin America. In thematic terms, it is interested in analyzing the interaction among economic, political, and social processes. REPAL is particularly concerned with how the findings of such analyses further our understanding of development models, the socio-political institutions that sustain them, and the practical problems they face. In methodological terms, REPAL seeks to promote research that is empirically grounded and sensitive to context and that leads to new forms of description, concept formation, causal inference, and theoretical innovations that challenge the conventional wisdom on socially relevant phenomenon in the region. With respect to methods of research and analysis, REPAL’s approach is open and eclectic, based on a simple premise that the methods should be selected as a function of the problem to be studied rather than the reverse. Institutionally, REPAL is a network open to the research community and structured around the promotion of diverse, plural debate on the political economy of Latin America.

To join the REPAL mailing list, please send us an e-mail: repalconference@gmail.com

Eighth Annual Conference
To be held June 30-July 1, 2022, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Seventh Annual Conference
Virtual, organized by Cornell University’s Einaudi Center, July 15-17th, 2021
The conference included a keynote panel focused on institutional initiatives to address diversity and gender equality at Latin American universities and another plenary session focused on how COVID-19 has affected the region.

Sixth Annual Conference
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, May 13th and 14th, 2019
The conference included a keynote address by Nora Lustig (Tulane University) on the inequalities of markets and politics in Latin America, and closed with an address by Mitch Landrieu (Former Mayor of New Orleans) on “Why Inequality Matters”

Fifth Annual Conference
Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia, June 14th and 15th, 2018
Laura Wills Otero chaired the local organizing committee. It included the presentation of 45 papers and 3 book manuscripts.

Fourth Annual Conference
Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Perú, April 27th and 28th, 2017
It included the presentation of 49 papers and 5 book manuscripts.

Third Annual Conference
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, June 10th and 11th, 2016

For information on the Latin American Political Economy Scholarship Conference where REPAL was initially discussed, click here.

Commitment to Equity

Commitment to Equity (CEQ), directed by Nora Lustig, the Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics at Tulane University and Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Dialogue, was designed to analyze the impact of taxation and social spending on inequality and poverty in individual countries, and provide a roadmap for governments, multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental organizations in their efforts to build more equitable societies. The CEQ is a joint project of CIPR, the Department of Economics at Tulane University and the Inter-American Dialogue.

The CEQ uses incidence analysis and a specially designed diagnostic questionnaire to address three questions: How much redistribution and poverty reduction is being accomplished in each country through social spending, subsidies and taxes? How progressive are revenue collection and government spending? Within the limits of fiscal prudence, what could be done to increase redistribution and poverty reduction in each country through changes in taxation and spending? CEQ is the first framework to comprehensively assess the tax and benefits system in developing countries and to make the assessment comparable across countries and over time. Initially, CEQ has focused on Latin America.

The comprehensive incidence analysis measures how each component of the tax and benefit system is distributed and the overall impact of taxes and benefits on an array of poverty and inequality indicators. It also calculates effectiveness indicators, progressivity indicators, incidence by decile, coverage and leakages by program, and estimates the probability of remaining poor after direct transfers. (For more read the handbook.)

The diagnostic questionnaire is designed to assess how aligned fiscal policies are with supporting a minimum living standard and human capital accumulation, as well as with reducing inequality. The objective is to evaluate efforts based on whether governments: i. collect and allocate enough resources to support a minimum living standard for all; ii. collect and distribute resources equitably; iii. ensure that spending is fiscally sustainable and that programs are of good quality and incentive compatible; iv. collect and publish relevant information, as well as are subject to independent evaluations.

CEQ/Latin America is a joint project of the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD) and Tulane University's Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) and Department of Economics. The project has received financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the General Electric Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations Development Programmes Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDP/RBLAC), and the World Bank.

Access the CEQ Working Paper Series here.
CEQ Handbook.

RGM Commitment to Equity REPAL Supported Research

Mission

The Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) is devoted to inter-hemispheric exchanges that will advance the production and dissemination of knowledge about critical policy issues facing the Americas as well as the deepening of academic research in these areas. Its aim is to stimulate contact between scholars and decision-makers working on the region at different locations and in different languages, enriching their production by enabling the confluence of multiple perspectives.

CIPR has a dynamic agenda focused on contemporary issues of importance to Latin America and inter-American relations. CIPR also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of U.S-Latin American relations outside of academia. For this purpose it will engage business and civic leaders as well as members of the broader community in discussions and exchanges about current events pertaining to inter-American relations.

About CIPR

CIPR focuses on issues of importance to Latin America and inter-American relations. Although this implies a dynamic agenda that will constantly evolve, its focus broadly encompasses aspects of political and human development as well as inter-American relations.

CIPR also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of Inter-American relations and contemporary policy debates. For this purpose, it engages business and civic leaders as well as members of the broader community in discussions related to its interest areas.

Mission People