About Us
For more information about the Poverty and Inequality Unit, email us at: povunit@iadb.org
Chief of the Unit
Carlos Eduardo Vélez Echavarria
Technical Staff
César Bouillon
José Antonio MejiaLuis Tejerina
Consultants
Pavel Luengas
Mauricio Saavedra
Juliana Pungiluppi
Viviane Azevedo
Research Assistants
Gabriela Patron
Administrative Support
Aura Oradei
Carlos Eduardo Vélez has been appointed to head the Poverty and Inequality Advisory Unit at the IADB since April 2003. During the previous four years Vélez had been working as a Senior Economist at the Poverty Unit in the World Bank (LAC). His main research interests are related to determinants of income distribution dynamics, welfare and poverty, targeting and incidence analysis, equity and tax reform and inter-sectoral allocation of public social expenditure. Most of his recent applied research has been about Brazil and Colombia.
His work have been presented in different forums: the Latin American ABCD Conference of the World Bank, the LACEA Meetings, the Latin American Econometrica Meetings, and the Fiscal Policy Workshop at CEPAL, among others. Vélez published the book Gasto Social y Desigualdad: Logros y Extravíos (1996), an assessment of the impact of public expenditure in the distribution of income in Colombia. Two forthcoming publications (books) with the World Bank are: Poverty in Colombia: The Divergent trends of Economic and Social Development and Inequality and Economic Development in Brazil (edited volume).
Born in Colombia, Vélez received a degree in Management Engineering from the Facultad de Minas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, a M.S. in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University. His doctoral dissertation studied the normative link between the labor income taxation and the distribution of public expenditure in education among heterogeneous agents.
Some On-line Publications:
Public Social Expenditure in Colombia. Incidence and Sector Priorities in the 1990's, co-authored with Vivian Foster
Brazil's Increasing Skill-Premium: Growing Demand and Insufficient Supply?, co-authored with Andreas Blom
Public Social Expenditure in Brazil: An International Comparison, co-authored with Vivian Foster
Who bears the Burden of Crime and Violence in Colombia?, co-authored with Alejandro Gaviria
An Economic Interpretation of Targeting Systems of Social Programs: The Case of Colombia's SISBEN, co-authored with Elkin Castaño and Ruthanne Deutsch
César Patricio Bouillon specializes on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Protection at the Poverty and Inequality Unit. Bouillon's main activities in the unit include: collaboration in the design of Bank social sector projects; preparation of technical analyses in the areas of social protection schemes, social risk management, poverty and inequality reduction strategies, and impact evaluation of projects; provision of technical assistance in the determination of Poverty Targeted Investments (PTI) for Bank operations; and contributions to the Regional Operations Departments in the preparation of Country Papers in poverty issues. Bouillon's main research activities focus on social protection schemes, social risk management, and the determinants of poverty and inequality, focusing on the Latin American region.
Bouillon's publications include "Lineamientos de protección social: El caso peruano", co-authored with Gustavo Yamada. Working Paper, Inter American Development Bank, 2000. "La liberalización de la balanza de pagos en México: Efectos en el crecimiento, la desigualdad y la pobreza", co-authored with Jaime Ros, Forthcoming, UNDP. "Returns to education, sector premiums and wage inequality in Mexico", Dissertation Paper, Georgetown University, 2000. "Ciclos y Tendencias en la Economía Peruana: 1950 - 1984", co-authored with Bruno Seminario, Cuadernos de Investigación 15, Lima, Centro de Investigación de la Universidad del Pacífico, 1992.
Born in Lima, Peru, Bouillon received his B.A. in economics from Universidad del Pacífico in Lima and later worked at this University as a researcher and lecturer. He got his Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Some On-line Publications:
Mexico: Trade Liberalization, Growth, Inequality and Poverty, co-authored with Jaime Ros
Rising Inequality in Mexico: Returns to Household Characteristics
By César Bouillon, Arianna Legovini, Nora Lustig
The Reversal of Inequality Trends in Colombia, 1978-1995: A Combination of Persistent and Fluctuating Forces, co-authored with Carlos Eduardo Vélez, Jose Leibovich, Adriana Kugler and Jairo Núñez
Can Education Explain Changes in Income Inequality in Mexico?, co-authored with Arianna Legovini and Nora Lustig
Inequality and Mexico's labor market after trade reform
José Antonio Mejía-Guerra is IDB's Coordinator for the Program "Improvement of Surveys and the Measurement of Living Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean" (ISLC). José Antonio has focused his research efforts on issues dealing with living standards and poverty in Latin America. His work has been published by the Inter-American Institute for Social Development (INDES). Mejía has participated in the developing of the document "Perfil de Condiciones de Vida, Paraguay 1995", to be published by Paraguay's "Direccion General de Estadistica, Encuestas y Censos".
His work experience at IDB has been concentrated in the area of social statistics and household surveys data analysis. José Antonio is Mexican, a lawyer from "Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon" (Monterrey, Mexico), has a bachelors degree in economics from "Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey" (Monterrey, Mexico), and holds a M.A. in Public Policy from Georgetown University.
Some On-line Publications:
An Inventory of Poverty Lines for Latin America and the Caribbean: 1985-1997
Structural Adjustment and Poverty in Bolivia, co-authored with Rob Vos and Haeduck Lee
Marcos Robles is the specialist for Household Surveys of the MECOVI Program at the Poverty and Inequality Unit. Previously, he has been the coordinator of the Project ? Presupuesto y Gasto Social? (UNDP-UNICEF) and the MECOVI Program( IDB-WB-ECLAC) in Paraguay; Adviser for the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, Manager of Quantitative Methods of Maximixe Consulting, Chief of Departamento de Estudios Económicos y Análisis de Políticia.
His research includes, ?Simulación de Estrategias Alternativas de Focalización de Subsidios para el Sector de Agua y Saneamiento en Paraguay? and "Estimaciones econométricas de los principales factores de riesgo de exclusión social de la juventud en Paraguay? World Bank, ?Situación del empleo en el Área Metropolitana de Asunción? and ?El empleo en Paraguay. Evidencias de las Encuestas de Hogares? UNDP. ?Pobreza y Gasto Público en Educación en Paraguay?, ?Estratificación socioeconómica de la población del Área Metropolitana de Asunción?. ?Determinación de las líneas de Pobreza en el Perú?, ?Pobreza e inequidad en el Perú 1996?, ?Gasto público social e ingreso familiar. Los casos del gasto en educación y el Programa de Vaso de Leche en el Perú?, ?Evaluación de la calidad de la Información de las Encuestas de Hogares 1997-IV y 1998-II?, ?Diseño de cuestionario del módulo de consumo para la Encuesta de Hogares. Análisis de la estructura y distribución del gasto y la pobreza en el Perú?. ?Medición de la exclusión social en salud en Paraguay, among others.
Robles received his Bachelor?s Degree in Economics from Universidad Nacional Agraria de Lima and a Master Degree in Economics from Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas de México, CIDE (1987).
Paraguay Rural: Ingresos, Tenencia de Tierras, Pobreza y Desigualdad
Pobreza y Gasto Público en Educación en Paraguay
El Empleo en Paraguay. Evidencias de la Encuesta de Hogares
Last updated: 01/16/07
