In the world of public economics, Cristian Sepulveda has been making steps in his
practical approach and commitment to simplifying complex economic theories. His main
field of specialization is public economics (the economics of the government, or the
public sector), and in that field he has worked mostly on fiscal decentralization
and optimal taxation.
Even though he has concentrated his research on public economics, his work has always
been guided by his concern about poverty and income inequalities. He demonstrates
this in his work, “The Consequences of Fiscal Decentralization on Poverty and Income
Equality” and many other articles.
Sepulveda says, “I mostly focused on theoretical research (as opposed to empirical),
and one of my main concerns is to simplify and improve current economic theory to
make it more intuitive and easy to understand, both for people not so familiar with
economics, and for economists in regard to problems I believe can be ‘solved’ with
simple approaches not well developed in mainstream economics so far.”
Sepulveda also uses his research in his classes. He says, “I use one of my papers
during the first three weeks of the semester, to give students a more ‘useful’ understanding
of the demand and supply model, and another during the last two weeks of the semester,
to give students a complete overview of the ways stadiums and professional teams impact
local economies. This semester I had the opportunity to teach ECO-410 Public Finance,
which is my main field of specialization, so I had the opportunity to teach topics
related to at least 6 of my papers (on public economics and fiscal decentralization).
In some cases, I had the opportunity to explain key ideas developed in these papers,
but in general the fact that I have worked on those areas has greatly facilitated
my understanding of the topics, such that I can more clearly explain the students
the context, relevance, and applications of different economic models.”
When asked to summarize his research in short, he struggled to find just one sentence
that encapsulated his ideas. So far, he has come up with, “Making economic theory
more useful to the layman,” which demonstrates his aspiration to simplify and improve
current economic theory to the public.
In summary, Cristian Sepulveda's research is both relevant and accessible. With a
focus on real-world applications and a knack for simplifying complex ideas, he contributes
to building a more inclusive economic framework.
