Abandon Ship! Elites’ Migrations and Capital Flight in the Wake of the Social Outbreak of 2019 in Chile.

This presentation will show the primary findings of a three-year research project, funded by the Chilean government, which investigates the incidence of two interconnected phenomena in the wake of the social unrest in 2019: Chilean elites’ migrations and capital flight. The research is grounded in quantitative data from Chile's Central Bank and Servicio de Impuestos Internos (Tax Agency), along with 60 qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted in Chile between 2022 and 2024. We organized the interviews into three distinct categories, each corresponding to a specific phenomenon under scrutiny: 1) migrations of economic elites, 2) brain drain of cultural elites, and 3) capital flight. For the capital flight analysis, we interviewed a wide range of actors to understand the complexity of the phenomenon, including economists, entrepreneurs, trade union leaders, government officials, and tax attorneys.

Conclusions show that, in opposition to the rational choice theory, the elites’ motivations to leave Chile - whether it is moving to another country as a family, seeking an education abroad, or securing their money in other parts of the world - do not stray only from rational calculations. The elites’ justifications are connected to a profound political apprehension and fear, which shows in their discourses about the polarization of the political landscape. In many aspects, this apprehension originates from Chile's traumatic history and the memory of the Unidad Popular and Pinochet's Military Coup. The significance of psychological and emotional incentives should not be overlooked, as these elites have experienced some degree of trauma from the social unrest in 2019 and feel persistent hostility. One of our main findings is that migrations and capital flight not only function as a means of self-protection and wealth preservation, but also serve to perpetuate social and racial privileges, since these elites are mostly white and from foreign ascendency.