Joaquín Toledo Tesoro

Joaquín Toledo
Tesoro

PhD Student in Economics  ·  PUC Chile

jtoledo1@uc.cl Gmail GitHub CV (PDF)
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About me

I am a PhD student in Economics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. My research focuses on urban economics, particularly land-use regulation, housing markets, and urban development, using microeconometric and spatial methods.

Alongside academic work, I am a consultant in public policy — advising on urban planning, transport, and housing — and teach quantitative methods and economics at the graduate level.

I am originally from Uruguay. Outside academia, I play basketball, enjoy solving puzzles, and am a proud Peñarol fan.

Research interests
Urban Economics Land-use regulation & housing markets
Public Finance Property taxes & fiscal policy
Methods Microeconometrics & spatial analysis
Policy Urban development · transit · housing · cadastral reassessment · social planning
Working papers
Working paper · 2025

Property Taxes as Market Signals: Evidence from Housing Markets with Information Frictions

Hugo E. Silva, Joaquín Toledo Tesoro

Property tax liability increases housing prices by approximately 7%, acting as a certification mechanism that reduces information asymmetry in opaque markets. Effects reach up to 16% for properties with greater uncertainty, revealing that the tax signal serves as a quality proxy where quality is otherwise difficult to observe.

SSRN ↗
Working paper · 2026

Property Taxes and Rental Prices: Evidence from a Large-Scale Cadastral Reassessment

Matías Brum, Joaquín Toledo Tesoro

A large-scale cadastral reassessment raises rental prices by 9.3% and imputed rental values by 12.4%, implying inelastic supply and highlighting institutional frictions in tax incidence. The findings challenge standard assumptions about tax shifting in rental housing markets.

SSRN ↗
Work in progress
In progress

When Do Land-Use Regulations Matter?

Joaquín Toledo Tesoro, Diego Gil, Hugo Silva

FAR constraints bind strongly in housing markets, while height restrictions matter only when actively enforced; otherwise they create uncertainty and are discounted in prices. The results illuminate the gap between de jure and de facto zoning.

Draft coming soon
In progress

Here Comes the Sun: Rooftop Solar Adoption & Housing Inequality

Jose-Carlo Bermúdez (World Bank), Joaquín Toledo Tesoro

Examines the distributional consequences of rooftop solar adoption across housing markets, with a focus on how access to solar energy interacts with existing inequalities in housing quality and ownership.

Draft coming soon
In progress

The Impact of a VAT Reduction on Consumer Prices: The Role of Market Competition

Sofía Felipez, Sofía Santín, Joaquín Toledo Tesoro

Using high-frequency supermarket price data and a difference-in-differences design exploiting variation in local competitive intensity, the paper shows that stores facing greater competition reduced prices significantly more after a nationwide VAT reform. Market structure mediates tax pass-through, with stronger effects for goods subject to the reduced rate.

Draft coming soon

Curriculum Vitae

Academic, policy, and applied experience

Download CV (PDF)
Education
2025–present
PhD in Economics
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Urban economics, political economy & public economics · Full scholarship (Instituto de Economía UC + VRI)
2023–2024
Master's in Economics
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Thesis: Reading between the Taxes: The Role of Property Taxes in the Housing Market under Uncertainty — Distinguished thesis · AGCID scholarship
2018–2023
Master's in Economics
Universidad de la República, Uruguay  ·  GPA 9.29/12
Thesis: Contribución inmobiliaria y alquileres: evidencia a partir de reaforos en Canelones — Outstanding thesis award 2023
2011–2017
Bachelor's in Economics
Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Research positions
2025–present
Research Staff — FONDECYT Projects
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Several projects on transport, telework, rental subsidies, among others
2025–present
Assistant Professor
Departamento de Métodos Cuantitativos, FCEA — Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Teaching
2026
Substitute Lecturer — Microeconomics I (undergraduate)
Facultad de Economía y Administración, PUC Chile
2025
Teaching Assistant — Tópicos de Economía Urbana (graduate)
Escuela de Gobierno, PUC Chile
2024
Teaching Assistant — Applied Microeconometrics (graduate)
Facultad de Economía y Administración, PUC Chile
Master's in Applied Economics
2022
Teaching Assistant — Econometrics (undergraduate)
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración, UDELAR
Undergraduate econometrics for the Economics program
2022
Teaching Assistant — Descriptive Economics (undergraduate)
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración, UDELAR
Introductory economics for all programs across the faculty
Policy, consulting & public engagement
2025
Consultant — Urban Transport & Territorial Planning
Intendencia de Montevideo & Plan Proyecto Consultores
Opportunities and challenges for a new public transport system in metropolitan Montevideo
2022–2023
Project Coordinator — Economic Research & Communication
Centro de Estudios Etcétera — Economía traducida y comentada
Economic reports for Intendencia de Canelones · Social protection matrix studies · Media engagement
2020–2022
Project Coordinator
Amnesty International, Uruguay
National office coordination · Human Rights Observatory · Public policy reports
2017–2020
Deputy Director & Head of Studies and Programs
Instituto Nacional de la Juventud — Ministerio de Desarrollo Social, Uruguay
4th National Survey on Adolescence and Youth (ENAJ) · Youth policy reports · Evidence for social program design
2016–2018
Administrative Assistant to the Dean
Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UDELAR
Financial programming and budget analysis
2015–2016
Young Professional — Poverty & Inequality
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Uruguay
Technical support on poverty and inequality analysis · Economic outlook reports