The Usach Faculty of Administration and Economics (FAE) has contributed key research to one of the country's most significant technical documents for national economic debate. In March 2026, the Ministry of Finance published the official Tax Statistics Report, a comprehensive publication that compiles estimates on critical tax variables, evaluates scenarios regarding a potential first-category tax reduction, and delivers data-backed evidence using administrative records from the Internal Revenue Service (SII). Notably, the landmark report highlights and cites the undergraduate thesis findings of three FAE students, underscoring the direct impact of the university's academic research on national public policy.
The research produced one of the most significant technical documents for the country’s economic debate. In March 2026, the Ministry of Finance presented the Tax Statistics Report, a document that compiles estimates on tax variables, examines scenarios such as a potential reduction in the first-category tax, and provides evidence based on administrative records from the Internal Revenue Service. In this report, three students from FAE Usach are named for their undergraduate theses, the findings of which were cited in the report.
This national recognition honors FAE Usach researchers Benjamín Carrasco, author of the thesis Returns on Capital and Wealth Distribution in Chile, alongside Mayelin Mardones and Kassandra Bastías, co-authors of the research paper Dynamics of Labor Income, Gender Disparity, and Migration. Both academic projects were supervised by Dr. Rodrigo Caputo, a prominent faculty member of the Usach Department of Economics, and achieved the highest honors in 2025 and 2026, respectively. The inclusion of these findings in the Ministry of Finance's report underscores the high academic standards of the Usach undergraduate economics program and highlights its capacity to generate impactful, data-driven knowledge for high-level public policy discussions in Chile.
The Thesis
The pioneering labor economics research by Mayelin Mardones and Kassandra Bastías analyzed the evolution of the Chilean labor market between 2014 and 2024, focusing on persistent structural inequalities linked to socioeconomic status, gender gaps, nationality, and the labor life cycle. Using official administrative microdata from the Internal Revenue Service (SII) and applying a specialized wage equation, the econometric study examined how macroeconomic and social variables impact income gaps among various types of taxpayers in Chile. A key finding of their research reveals that while the gender wage gap remains significant, it shows a steady downward trend. Furthermore, the authors empirically reaffirmed the existence of an inverted "U" curve between age and income within the domestic workforce, demonstrating that diminishing marginal returns for Chilean workers typically begin at approximately age 50.
For his part, Benjamín Carrasco’s economic thesis focused on the heterogeneity of returns on capital in Chile for the 2019 tax year, paying special attention to the role of private equity and closely held corporate assets among the country's highest wealth accumulation groups. The research demonstrates that capital returns are highly uneven, growing sharply at the absolute top of the economic spectrum. Based on official administrative tax data, the empirical study concludes that preferential access to private business assets and high-yield financial returns serve as a critical factor in understanding the persistence and deepening of wealth concentration in Chile.
These academic theses directly align with several core findings published in the Ministry of Finance's official report. Among these, the government document highlights a severe concentration of capital income among Chile's highest-earning taxpayers and exposes a significant disparity between the nominal first-category rate and the actual effective corporate tax burden. Furthermore, the publication details the highly regressive impact of potential corporate tax cuts and provides an in-depth analysis of the total fiscal cost of a complete tax system overhaul. Finally, the report contextualizes these findings by placing Chile’s tax structure in a comparative perspective with other OECD member countries, reinforcing the data's global and regional relevance.
El informe fue elaborado en parte en el marco de una colaboración ad honorem sostenida entre la FAE Usach y el Ministerio de Hacienda, trabajo que se extendió durante casi cuatro años y que fue reconocido de manera explícita en los agradecimientos del documento. Junto a las tesis ya concluidas, también se valoraron aportes de estudiantes que hoy desarrollan sus investigaciones de pregrado, como Manuel Alegría, Fabián Bernales y Daniel Salas, además del estudiante del Magíster en Economía Benjamín Thomann. El texto agradece igualmente a integrantes del convenio Ministerio de Hacienda-Usach y a colegas de BI Norwegian Business School, subrayando el carácter colectivo de este esfuerzo académico.
Que investigaciones nacidas en aulas y seminarios de título de la FAE Usach formen parte de un informe que alimenta la discusión tributaria nacional no es un dato menor. Es una señal concreta de cómo el trabajo riguroso de estudiantes y académicos puede abrirse paso en espacios donde se definen debates sustantivos para el país, conectando formación, evidencia y vocación pública de una manera coherente con el sello de transformar con valor.
The landmark publication was developed as part of an ongoing, four-year pro bono collaboration between FAE Usach and the Ministry of Finance—a strategic partnership explicitly recognized in the official document's acknowledgments. In addition to the completed postgraduate and undergraduate theses, the report highlights vital contributions from current Usach researchers. These include undergraduate research students Manuel Alegría, Fabián Bernales, and Daniel Salas, alongside Benjamín Thomann from the Master's in Economics program. The text also extends formal gratitude to the Ministry of Finance–Usach working group and international academic co-authors at the BI Norwegian Business School, underscoring the global reach of this collaborative economic initiative.
The integration of research originating directly from the classrooms and degree seminars of FAE Usach into a pivotal national tax debate is a major milestone for higher education in Chile. It serves as concrete evidence of how rigorous academic research can influence high-stakes public policy forums. This successful collaboration seamlessly bridges the gap between public education, data-driven evidence, and public service, perfectly embodying the university's institutional mission of "transforming with value".