Bio

Bio

I am a political economist and doctoral candidate at UMass Amherst, researching the geographically uneven development of global capitalism from a comparative-relational approach in historical perspective. My work bridges classical political economy and contemporary state theory, with special focus on Latin America in the shadow of U.S. imperialism. I build datasets, formal models, and digital archives—not just to understand history, but to contribute to transforming the present.

Growth, Distribution, and Working-Class Power

Published in Working Paper, 2026

Abstract: This paper develops a dynamic account of working-class power using a Goodwin-type growth-distribution framework. It distinguishes structural power (labour-market tightness) from associational power (organization/coordination) and embeds them into the wage-setting relation of a Goodwin model. We introduce a stability lever that depends on union structure and show how institutional configurations shift the system between damped and persistent distributive cycles via a Hopf bifurcation. The paper is operationalized using long-run Chilean data on wage shares, employment, and union structure, providing a formal but accessible framework for analyzing how organization shapes distributive conflict over time.

Key contributions:

  • A typology of working-class power as structural and associational.
  • A disciplined extension of the Goodwin model that integrates organization into wage-setting dynamics.
  • A regime interpretation of distributive cycles based on local stability and the Hopf boundary.
  • Empirical operationalization using historical Chilean data.

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Recommended citation: Polanco, Diego. (2026). "Growth, Distribution, and Working-Class Power." Working Paper.
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