Knowledge Exchange and Impact

 SOUTHMOD - simulating tax and benefit policies for development

The SOUTHMOD team has delivered targeted capacity-building training to key government institutions across Latin America, demonstrating direct knowledge exchange between academic research and policy implementation.

In September 2024, Dr H. Xavier Jara conducted intensive training at Bolivia's Ministry of Economy and Public Finance on BOLMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model developed through the III's SOUTHMOD project. The training engaged officials from multiple ministries and the National Statistical Office, culminating in discussions with Vice-minister Carlos David Guachalla Terrazas on tax-benefit reform simulations. 

Building on this success, III researchers delivered specialized training to Ecuador's National Statistical Institute (INEC) in October 2024, focusing on intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity analysis using administrative data. This training operates under a formal Memorandum of Understanding between INEC and III, establishing ongoing collaboration for evidence-based policy development. 

Two training courses on the use of tax-benefit microsimulation for policy analysis were successfully delivered to government officials in Peru and Costa Rica. From the 20 to 23 November 2023, Dr Xavier Jara in collaboration with Universidad del Pacífico organised the first training and launch event on PERUMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for Peru. From the 6 to 8 May 2024, Dr Xavier Jara in collaboration with Universidad de Costa Rica organised the first training and launch event on CRIMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for Costa Rica. The workshops included participants from government ministries, central banks and tax authorities of each country. 

Latin America and Caribbean Inequalities Review (LACIR)

LACIR Supplement published

The Latin America and Caribbean Inequalities Review (LACIR) programme achieved a major milestone with the publication of its comprehensive Supplement in Oxford Open Economics. This groundbreaking study represents a four-year collaborative effort involving 74 scholars who contributed 27 peer-reviewed articles examining why Latin America remains the world's most unequal region despite decades of economic growth. 

The Supplement reveals that inequality in Latin America is multifaceted and interconnected, with stark disparities in wealth, land ownership, health, education, and opportunities. Crucially, it demonstrates how predetermined factors like race, ethnicity, and gender continue to shape life chances—darker-skinned individuals face poorer educational outcomes and lower wages, while women earn less despite achieving higher education levels.

Public event held at LSE

LACIR has translated this research into public engagement through a high-profile LSE event titled 'The most unequal region in the world: combatting inequality in Latin America' during the ESRC Festival of Social Science.

Podcast series released

LACIR released a 12-episode podcast series with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) entitled ‘Voices in action: rethinking equality’ to reach a wider audience from the region. 

Presentations

In February 2024, Francisco Ferreira presented summary results of the Review to the Annual Meetings of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). In April 2024, LACIR panellists gathered at a synthesis symposium that took place in Mexico City to summarise the key findings from the report. A public event was also held in Chile entitled ‘What do we know about inequality in Chile and Latin America? Evidence and public policies’. 

2nd III-LIS Comparative Economic Inequality Conference 

The UK LIS Satellite Office team at the International Inequalities Institute successfully co-hosted the 2nd III-LIS Comparative Economic Inequality Conference in Luxembourg (February 27-28, 2025), bringing together leading scholars, researchers, and policymakers from around the world. Organized with LIS and co-sponsored by the University of Luxembourg and POST Luxembourg, the conference featured 79 research papers across 21 thematic sessions, demonstrating the III's pivotal role in advancing global inequality research. 

The event showcased cutting-edge research on critical issues including gender disparities, intergenerational mobility, and policy interventions. Keynote presentations by Professor Nora Lustig (Tulane University) on measuring inequality among the wealthy and Professor Fabian Pfeffer (LMU Munich) on wealth redistribution provided crucial insights for policy design. A special session on Professor Branko Milanovic's latest book drew 150 participants.

Global Estimates of Opportunity and Mobility Database 

The Global Estimates of Opportunity and Mobility (GEOM) database was officially launched during the ‘Equality of opportunity and intergenerational mobility: a global perspective’ conference that took place in Bari, Italy on the 6 and 7 June 2024. This database offers the most comprehensive set of estimates on Inequality of Opportunity available worldwide. To date, GEOM contains estimates for 72 countries, accounting for 67% of the world’s population and covering a time span as wide as 40 years in some cases. The database is now online and has attracted the interest of media and scholars around the globe, including mentions in a recent Fairness Foundation report in the UK, and in Il Sole 24 Ore, a leading Italian newspaper.

Collaboration with Joseph Rowntree Foundation 

The III has collaborated with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) to examine the role of framing in the politics of wealth inequality.

In Autumn 2024, the III and JRF ran focus groups to find out what the UK public thinks about wealth and wealth inequality, with support from New Economy Organisers’ Network, Future Narratives Lab, and Fairness Foundation. The results from these focus groups and a subsequent survey experiment which tested the effects of different frames on public opinion were published by JRF in June 2025 in the report 'Talking about wealth inequality'.

The results from these focus groups and a subsequent survey experiment which tested the effects of different frames on public opinion were published by JRF in June 2025 in the report 'Talking about wealth inequality'. Following on from this work, Dr Sarah Kerr produced a 6-part podcast series funded by the JRF’s Storyteller’s Fund using ideas in Dr Sarah Kerr’s book Wealth, poverty and enduring inequality: Let’s talk wealtherty to explore some of the trends and issues in wealth inequality in the UK today. The aim of the podcast is to make a more accessible space for thinking and talking about wealth as a social problem, and specifically, for thinking about the effects of extreme private wealth ownership on social and environmental sustainability.

Changing the narrative on wealth inequality

In 2024, the III and JRF published a public-facing report, 'Changing the Narrative on Wealth Inequality', which summarises academic research on the framing of wealth inequality and offers provocations to support future collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Workshops

A series of four workshops were held in early 2024. These workshops brought together representatives from social change organisations, including the Fairness Foundation, Women’s Budget Group, the Equality Trust, Tax Justice UK, and Patriotic Millionaires, alongside academics from seven institutions beyond LSE.

High-level UN appointments

The III continues to shape global policy debates through high-level international appointments. III Director Professor Francisco H. G. Ferreira began his term on the United Nations University Council. The Council oversees strategic priorities for the UN’s academic arm, which bridges research and policy across development, environment, peace, and governance. Meanwhile, Professor Naila Kabeer was appointed to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP, which is developing new metrics to complement or replace GDP in measuring sustainable and inclusive development. She also joined the UN Women Leaders Network, which brings together influential figures committed to advancing gender equality worldwide. 

LSE Festival Exhibition: Visions for the Future

As part of ‘LSE Festival: Visions for the Future’, the Perceptions of Inequality research programme developed an interactive exhibition component that translated their research findings into accessible, visually engaging formats. This was an important opportunity for the programme to engage with the broader public about the importance of understanding inequality perceptions. The exhibition featured data visualisations showing how people across different countries and social groups misperceive inequality, interactive demonstrations allowing visitors to test their own perceptions against reality, and narrative presentations exploring how stories and personal experiences shape our understanding of economic disparities. One particularly noteworthy element was an interactive quiz where visitors could estimate income and wealth distributions in the UK and compare their estimates with actual data.