The unprecedented call for the “Competition for the Rapid Assignment of Resources for Research Projects on the Coronavirus (COVID-19), year 2020” of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, aims to finance research projects on the SARS-CoV-2 virus or the COVID-19 infection related to the diagnosis, control, prevention, treatment, monitoring and/or other aspects of this virus, and its consequences.
Out of over 1000 applications, MIPP researchers Patricio Valenzuela and Damian Clarke are two of only 60 winners. Both will receive a one-year funding to conduct their research. Patricio Valenzuela’s project is titled: “Evaluation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Small Businesses of the Chilean Business Development Centers”. Damian Clarke’s proposal is titled: “COVID-19 and social distancing: the impact on domestic violence and gender inequality”.
We congratulate our MIPP Researchers on this outstanding achievement!
Please visit the ANID website for more details on each project and information on all awarded proposals.
“COVID-19 and social distancing: the impact on domestic violence and gender inequality”
The increase of the COVID-19 infection figures has led Chile, like other countries, to develop a series of responses that seek to reduce movement and minimize social contact in order to “flatten the infection curve”. While these responses are urgent to avoid the collapse of the health system, there is growing concern about their implications on other social indicators. In this project, we propose to test the causal impact of exposure to social distancing measures – including mandatory quarantines – on domestic violence (DV), and other social indicators strongly marked by gender, such as unpaid work and employment. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have entered into formal agreements with Ministries and services to obtain access to new and daily updated administrative micro-data. These data, in conjunction with the household survey we propose to conduct, will allow us to quantify the intensification of conflict and gender inequalities during the pandemic, and predict its consequences on women’s well-being, health and economic autonomy in the recovery period.
“Evaluation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Small Businesses of the Chilean Business Development Centers”
The current pandemic has caused devastating economic effects that are deteriorating the quality of life of millions of Chileans. These effects have been particularly pronounced in households that survive on the activity of small businesses. In fact, in Latin America and the Caribbean, 57% of households with small businesses have had to close their doors, generating a significant rise in unemployment (Bottan, Hoffmann and Vera-Cossio, 2020).
We have partnered with SERCOTEC to better understand how the pandemic is affecting enterprise performance in Chile. The objective of the study is to measure the effects of the pandemic on sales, employment, savings, debt and livelihoods of small businesses, as well as to examine the mechanisms through which these businesses have been affected. In addition, the study seeks to explore the role of the Centros de Desarrollo de Negocios (CDNs) in mitigating the impact of the pandemic, and how this pandemic has exacerbated the negative effects of the social crisis.
MIPP Chile 2024