Researchers at the IDB
Vanessa Alviarez is a Lead Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. She received her B.A. in Economics from the Central University of Venezuela (Summa Cum Laude), and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Her research focuses on international economics, looking at how the location and sourcing decisions of multinationals affect employment, trade patterns, and firms’ performance. She also studies how a firm’s foreign network of suppliers and buyers can affect markups and prices.
Latest Studies at the IDB
Changes in brand ownership resulting from cross-border mergers and acquisitions impact competition and consumer welfare. Foreign acquisitions of local brands often lead to an increase in cost or a decline in appeal for the acquired brand, with limited gains in efficiencies. However, the accompanying rise in market power has translated into higher profits for the majority of brand-acquiring firms. Pro-competitive policies in the United States and European Union that required divestitures in the beer industry as a condition for merger approval led to significant consumer savings. Similar policies in South America would have reduced consumer prices by 18%.
The research team generates innovative ideas that support the strategic policy agenda of the IDB and its member countries to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Discover more of the IDB’s research in the Publications Catalog, the Bank’s open-access repository.
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