Who Gets Ahead and Why: Inequality, Meritocracy, and Social Mobility in the Americas

Thursday, August 27, 2026
8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (GMT-05:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

Location: Off Campus ICESI University

Despite important economic and social progress in recent decades, inequality and limited social mobility remain some of the most persistent barriers to inclusive growth and opportunity across Latin America and the Caribbean. Addressing these challenges requires a multidisciplinary approach that brings together insights from economics, sociology, public policy, and related fields to better understand the drivers of inequality and identify effective policy solutions. In this context, the Georgetown Americas Institute, the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the University of Chicago, and the University of ICESI are pleased to host “Who Gets Ahead and Why: Inequality, Meritocracy, and Social Mobility in the Americas.” This conference will convene leading scholars and practitioners to examine the latest academic work used to determine structural causes of inequality around the world, as well as the implications for studying social mobility throughout the region.

This conference comes at the conclusion of the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality that seeks to provide the next generation of scholars with the multidisciplinary underpinning necessary for effective research on inequality dynamics.

Registration link available soon.

Schedule

9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks
Esteban Piedrahita, ICESI University
Alejandro Werner, Georgetown Americas Institute
Steven Durlauf, University of Chicago

SESSION I

9:15 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Presentation
Alexander Monge-Naranjo, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. | Marital Sorting, Household Inequality and Selection
Francis Vella, Georgetown University

10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Coffee Break

SESSION II

11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. | From Patriarchy to Policy: Norms, Votes, and Gender Equal Laws
Maurizio Bussolo, World Bank

11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Status Mobility in China: Past and Present
Steven Durlauf, University of Chicago

12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. | Age-Varying Social Influences on Intergenerational Mobility and Their Interactions with Family Income Trajectories
Yoosoon Chang, Indiana University
Bo Hu, Indiana University

1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. | Lunch

SESSION III

2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | The Long-Run Persistence of Family Ties in Latin America
Juliana Jaramillo, Banco de la República de Colombia

3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. | Gender and Distributive Fiscal Policies in a High Informality Context: Colombia
Andrés Álvarez, Universidad de los Andes

3:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. | Coffee Break

4:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Presentation
Orazio Attanasio, Yale University

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | How to Foster Social Mobility in Unequal Societies? Evidence, Policies, and Regional Challenges
Maurizio Bussolo, World Bank
Juan Esteban Carranza, Banco de la República de Colombia
Orazio Attanasio, Yale University