Nestor Castañeda

Director of @UCLAmericas -- Professor of Political Economy at University College London @UCL

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Can policy design build trust in local taxation? Experimental evidence of property taxation in Mexican municipalities:

https://t.co/rSQYp6sGqr

[John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch]

New from me:

Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work.

Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true.

My column on moving from income world to wealth world: https://t.co/UDmzA8tmPA

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Does Progressivity Raise Tax Capacity? Experimental Evidence from the D.R. Congo: https://t.co/CZuwAVYcpK

[Institute for Fiscal Studies @TheIFS]

NEW: Updated estimates suggest that those who go to university can expect to be around £100k better off financially over their lifetimes on average, compared to if they didn’t go.

THREAD on new @TheIFS report on the impact of undergraduate degrees on lifetime earnings:

[Cambridge University Press - Politics @CUP_PoliSci]

Interested in submitting your article to Journal of Latin American Studies? Click here for more information.
📚 https://t.co/rZyBZYj91Q

#politics #history #anthropology #economics #LatAm

[Imran Rasul @ImranRasul3]

Call for papers: Workshop on Economic Opportunities by Race and Ethnicity @TheIFS

Deadline: July 31st - submissions from ECRs encouraged!
Keynotes: Desmond Ang, Zachary Bleemer.

https://t.co/m54u6NFEQ9

Please RT to help spread the word!
@PlattLucinda

[Luis Felipe López-Calva @LFLopezCalva]

In emerging economies, an estimated 50%–70% of self-employment income goes undeclared for #tax purposes, while the evasion rate among salaried employees is typically below 10%.

The result is a stark case of horizontal #inequity: two individuals with identical earnings can end up paying very different amounts in taxes.

Drawing on data from 25 developing countries, a new The @WorldBankGroup Policy Research Working Paper finds that self-employed workers in the top income decile pay, on average, 6 percentage points less in taxes than comparable employees.

By limiting public revenues, tax evasion can constrain investments that support #poverty reduction and inclusive growth, while also fueling resistance to tax reforms that improve vertical equity but worsen horizontal equity. Addressing distributional concerns requires credible improvements in enforcement, transparency, and administrative capacity.

Read the full paper to learn why reducing tax evasion is essential for building fairer and more sustainable tax systems: https://t.co/Vmdjgdbl9q

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Extractive Taxation and the French Revolution -- Taxes under France's ancien régime (1750–89) fueled the spread of revolutionary sentiment; more heavily taxed districts were more likely to experience economic and political riots https://t.co/MuanuAcgVl

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

📅 Mark your calendars!

Here are all upcoming events in term 3.

Full details and registrations are available via the QR code or at the following link:

https://t.co/nlz6CJetHd

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Just 1 week left to apply! The UCL Institute of the Americas is hiring a Lecturer focused on either:

1. relations between China and the Americas;
2. U.S. foreign policy; OR
3. migration between Latin America and the US

Apply: https://t.co/kZewS555ie

DM me if you have questions

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

📢Call for Abstracts: Sex, Reproduction, and the Politics of Knowledge Workshop

🔗https://t.co/SCztRTJFF4

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

Want to know more about sugar cane plantations, dominoes, bodegas, electricity blackouts, salsa, reggaeton, & the history+politics of América & its peoples, from Chile to Canadá? Apply to our Latin American Studies: History, Politics & Society MA
#BadBunny
https://t.co/lBTuMIBIFc

[NatCen @NatCen]

📣 New British Social Attitudes findings published today

Public support for higher taxes and increased public spending has fallen sharply since 2022, while political divisions over the role of the state have widened to levels not previously seen.

Just 36% now say government should increase taxes and spend more on health, education and welfare, the lowest level since 2013 and down 19 percentage points in three years.

Attitudes are increasingly divided by party support, with just 21% of Conservative and Reform supporters backing higher taxes and spending, compared with 52% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters.

Elsewhere, priorities within welfare are shifting, and while attitudes towards immigration have become more sceptical in recent years, they remain less negative than a decade ago. The survey also finds continued majority support for assisted dying, with 79% saying it should be allowed.

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Rising share of UK public in favour of tax and spending cuts via @FT
https://t.co/nqwoc0ng2P

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

Fascinated by the history & politics of the Americas?

Whether you'd like to focus on
- International Relations
- International Development
- Latin America
- the US

Our Postgrad Open Day is your chance to explore our courses

📍 In person
📅 21 Feb

Book: https://t.co/IsFFRW2f2f

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

@UCLAmericas is hiring a Lecturer in IR of the Americas, starting Aug/Sept 2026.

We welcome applicants with a PhD in IR, History, PolSci or related fields working on:

• China–Americas relations
• US foreign policy & Inter-American affairs
• US–Latin America migration

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

JOIN US: Lecturer in International Relations of the Americas

Deadline: 1 March 2026

View the full job description and person specification and APPLY NOW:
https://t.co/MpaYFFx2TB

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Clientelism: How It Works, Why It Persists and How to Break It https://t.co/HAxFMogXnN via @nberpubs

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

📚Join us for the book launch of a major new contribution to authoritarian politics, unveiling fresh evidence on how factional dynamics shape legislative power across dictatorships
✍️Author: Emilia Simison
🗓️25 Feb 2026
⏲️13:00 – 14:30
📍51 Gordon Square
🔗https://t.co/P3FAeRlOql

[UCL Americas @UCLAmericas]

🌎Is This Latin America’s Century?
Inaugurating our new seminar series, “The Americas in the News,” Michael Stott, Latin America editor of the FT, will reflect on the region where he has spent the last seven years.
🗓️26 Feb
⏲️17:30
📍UCL Bentham House
🔗https://t.co/pGpoDkzcZp

[Nestor Castañeda @nccastaneda]

Understanding Latin America’s Fertility Decline: Age, Education, and Cohort Dynamics https://t.co/uQA2BYXXvn via @nberpubs