Directory / Faculty & Staff ¬

Dr. Jairo Isaza-Castro

Professor & Director of Center for Global Workplace Studies (CGWS), School of Business
Dr. Jairo Isaza-Castro
Buckman Hall 305
(901) 321-3314

Biography

Dr. Jairo Isaza-Castro is Professor and Director of the Center for Global Workplace Studies at the School of Business, CBU. Before joining CBU, Dr. Isaza-Castro worked for 19 years at Universidad de La Salle in Bogotá, where he was Director of Postgraduate Programs in Development Studies. Dr. Isaza-Castro has an extensive consultancy career as a consultant for international development organizations such as ILO and IADB, and as a member of executive boards in the private sector of Colombia. He was President of the Colombian Association of Labor Studies between 2017 and 2021.

Education

  • University of Sussex (United Kingdom), PhD
  • International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, MA
  • Universidad Católica de Colombia, BSc

Courses Taught

  • CMBA 602: Managerial Economics

    This course provides the principles and tools needed to explore the economic dimension of business decision making.

  • CMBA 615: STTP: Statistics & Data Analysis

    This special-topics course provides intensive, directed study in statistical methods and data analysis for graduate business students.

  • HMBA 603: Health Care Managerial Economics

    This course utilizes the tools of economic thinking and economic analysis to examine the current state of health and healthcare in both the United States and international economies.

  • STAT 223: Business Statistics

    A course in statistical methods and application in the field of business and economics.

  • ECON 214: Microeconomics (in Spanish)

    Attention is focused on the micro concept of economic analysis, and primary attention given to the theory of the firm and partial equilibrium problems arising within any enterprise economy.

  • ECON 215: Principles of Macroeconomics

    This course focuses attention on the aggregate or macroeconomic relationships and gives attention to the central problems of economic organization, the functioning of the price system, the economic role of government, the determination of national income, employment, the rate of inflation, and fiscal and monetary policy.

Publications and Research Focus

  • Areas of research:

    – Labor economics

    – Occupational segregation and labor market outcomes by gender

    – Economic and social development

    Recent publications:

    Articles and book chapters (selected)

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Elementos para una Política Pública de Empleo en Colombia, 2026-2030. Revista Sur, Bogotá, Colombia, 25 May, 2026.

    JULIO CÉSAR NEFFA & JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Población, empleo e ingresos. In: Julio César Neffa (Editor) Tratado latinoamericano de sociología del trabajo (Vol. II), pp. 613-667. CLACSO, 2024. Available at: https://libreria.clacso.org/publicacion.php?p=4038&c=1

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO & BARRY REILLY: Trade reforms, capital investments and the feminization of Colombian manufacturing industries: 1981-2000. Latin American Journal of Trade Policy, 6(16), 119-164, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-9368.2023.69711

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Nota editorial. Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios del Trabajo, 26(42), 07-12, 2022. PDF (Spanish)

    CASTIBLANCO, S.; ISAZA-CASTRO, J., & BARBOSA, M. Desarrollo humano e igualdad de género. Un análisis de datos panel a la luz del ODS5 [Human development and gender equality: A data panel analysis from the SDG5 perspective]. Revista Estudos Feministas, 30(3), e77953, 01-15, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9584-2022v30n377953

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO, D.M. Carmona, I.C. Bedoya Calvo, G.Cómbita Mora, D.J. Mesa Fernández, M.Nova Laverde, A.Sarmiento Narváez, y A.F. Zapata Ramírez. Reconstrucción económica y social: retos para la sociedad colombiana en tiempos poscovid. Revista de la Universidad de La Salle, (86), 179-198. https://doi.org/10.19052/ruls.vol1.iss86.13, 2021.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO & BARRY REILLY: Occupational Segregation by Gender – An Empirical Analysis for Urban Colombia (1986-2004). Equidad y Desarrollo No.35, 9-41. https://doi.org/10.19052/eq.vol1.iss35.1, 2020.

    RAMIREZ, L. F., & ISAZA CASTRO, J. When Size Matters: Trends in Innovation and Patents in Latin American Universities. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 14(3), 44-56. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242019000300044, 2019.

    KATHERINE RESTREPO & JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: ¿De lo masculino a lo femenino? Reflexiones sobre el mercado laboral de la contaduría pública. Revista Científica General José María Córdova, 17(27), 403-430. https://revistacientificaesmic.com/index.php/esmic/article/view/385, 2019. JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Editorial. Equidad y Desarrollo, (29), 11-12. https://doi.org/10.19052/ed.5079, 2017.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Protección social y lucha contra la pobreza en Brasil, Colombia y Chile. ¿Graduarse de los PTC o salir de la pobreza? Carlo Tassara (Editor). Madrid: Programa EUROsociAL, 2015. Estudios Internacionales, 48(184), 167-173. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.2016.42576, 2016.

    DIANA J. CUESTA-LANCHEROS, JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO, et al.: Algunas reflexiones en torno a la medición del desarrollo humano desde una perspectiva cristiana y lasallista. In: Libardo E. Pérez (Editor) Pensar en escuelas de pensamiento: formación, perspectivas y retos de los colectivos del pensar. Bogotá, Ediciones Unisalle: 189-217. https://ciencia.lasalle.edu.co/libros/15/, 2016.

    ISAZA-CASTRO, J.G. Capítulo VIII – Políticas y esquemas para la formalización en las micro y pequeñas empresas en Colombia (Book chapter). In: Linda Deelen (Editora) Políticas para la formalización de las micro y pequeñas empresas en América Latina. Santiago de Chile, International Labour Organisation – ILO, 2015: 137-153pp.

    ISAZA-CASTRO, J.G. Occupational segregation, selection effects and gender wage differences: evidence from urban Colombia. Apuntes Del CENES, Vol. 33 – No.57 (Enero – Junio de 2014): 73-116p. https://doi.org/10.19053/22565779.2905

    KABEER, N.; ISAZA-CASTRO, J.G. & MAHMUD, S.: NGOs and the political empowerment of poor people in rural Bangladesh: cultivating the habits of democracy? World Development, Vol.40, No.10, pp.2044-2062, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.011

    EDOARDO MASSET; LAWRENCE HADDAD; JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO & ALEXANDER CORNELIUS: The effectiveness of agricultural interventions that aim to improve the nutritional status of children: a systematic review, British Medical Journal – BMJ, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d8222

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Trade Liberalization and Gender Effects: a Literature Review for Colombia. Revista Equidad y Desarrollo, No.4, Bogotá, Ediciones Unisalle, 2006.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO & CARLOS MEZA: Cambios estructurales de la demanda de trabajo en Colombia: un análisis econométrico entre 1984 y 2000. Revista de Investigación. Bogotá, D.C.: v.4, n.1, p.99-116, 2004.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Women Workers in Bogota’s Informal Sector: Gendered Impact of Structural Adjustment Policies -SAP- in the 1990s. Planeación y Desarrollo. Bogotá, Departamento Nacional de Planeación: v.XXXIII, n.Nos. 3 y 4, p.411-468, 2002.

    Books

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: El impacto de la COVID-19 en las mujeres trabajadoras de Colombia. Colombia: OIT / Oficina de la OIT para los Países Andinos, 2021. 94 p. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—americas/—ro-lima/—sro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_774770.pdf

    JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO; NORBERTO ROJAS, RAFAEL CUBILLOS, STÉFANO FARNÉ: Macroeconomía y Empleo en Colombia. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Lima: International Labour Organisation – ILO Office, 2015.

    ISAZA-CASTRO, J.G. Estudio de los perfiles ocupacionales que demanda el sector hidrocarburos en el Departamento de la Guajira (As Project Coordinator). Red ORMET (Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo – UNDP Colombia), 2014. Available at https://issuu.com/pnudcol/docs/guajira_final

    NOHORA LEÓN, JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO & CARLOS MEZA: Las transformaciones del sector rural en Colombia desde las reformas neoliberales: un análisis entre 1980 y 2004. Bogotá, Ediciones Unisalle, 2012.

    JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO (As coordinator of the technical team): Cundinamarca – 2012: Estado de Avance de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. Bogotá, Programa de Naciones Unidas Para el Desarrollo -PNUD – Colombia y Universidad de La Salle, 2012.

    EDOARDO MASSET, LAWRENCE HADDAD; JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO & ALEXANDER CORNELIUS: A systematic review of agricultural interventions that aim to improve nutritional status of children. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. ISBN: 978-1-907345-09-8, 2011. Available at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/906

    KABEER, N., MAHMUD, S. & ISAZA CASTRO: NGOs’ Strategies and the Challenge of Development and Democracy in Bangladesh. IDS Working Paper 343. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2010. Available at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/906

    JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO & CARLOS ACOSTA & CARLOS MEZA: Gender, Poverty and Labour Market Dynamics: A microsimulations analysis for Urban Colombia between 1990 and 2004. Saarbrücken (Germany): LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010.

    RAMIREZ HERNANDEZ, LUÍS FERNANDO & ISAZA CASTRO, JAIRO GUILLERMO (Editors) Empleo, pobreza y desigualdad: una mirada desde la investigación universitaria. Bogotá: Ediciones Unisalle, 2007, p.301.

    RAMIREZ HERNANDEZ, LUÍS FERNANDO, ISAZA CASTRO, JAIRO GUILLERMO (Editors) Empleo, Reformas Estructurales y Desarrollo. Bogotá: Ediciones Unisalle, 2006.

    RESTREPO RIVILLAS, CARLOS ALBERTO; ISAZA CASTRO, JAIRO GUILLERMO; ACOSTA NIÑO, CLARA INÉS. Competitividad y estructura de la economía colombiana. Bogotá: Universidad Externado de Colombia, 2005, v.500. p.294.

    ISAZA CASTRO, JAIRO GUILLERMO & RENDON ACEVEDO, JAIME ALBERTO, Guía Metodológica para la Formulación y Presentación de Proyectos de Investigación. Colección Apuntes de Clase No. 1. Bogotá, Ediciones Unisalle, 2005 (Segunda Edición, 2007).

    Conferences (selected)

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: The US Economy in 2025 (invited talk). Our Lady of Perpetual Help Coffee Table, Germantown, TN. 17 January, 2026.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: The U.S. Trade Deficit: What It Is and Why It Matters (invited talk). The Extraordinary Curmudgeons of Memphis, The Irish Restaurant, Memphis, TN. 26 September, 2025.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Capital Intensity, Market Concentration, and the Feminization of Manufacturing Employment: Evidence from Colombia, 2000-2022. Paper presented at the 2nd Colombian Congress of Labor Studies, Asociación Colombiana de Estudios del Trabajo (ACET) & Universidad del Valle. Cali, Colombia, 22 October, 2025.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Tariffs and the US Economy (invited talk). Our Lady of Perpetual Help Coffee Table, Germantown, TN. 24 May, 2025.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Boys and Men Falling Behind. Preview Fair, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN. 14 July, 2023.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: The Legal Perspectives of Personhood: A Reflection from the Social Sciences. Personhood – Legal Perspectives: A Conversation with Religion and Philosophy, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN. 10 November, 2022.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Economic Recovery and Employment Trends in the Andean Countries after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Paper presented at International Business Week, Universidad de La Salle, Lima, Perú. 5 October, 2022.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Employment Crisis in the Andean Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Paper presented at the 4th International Business Week (online), Universidad de La Salle, Lima, Perú. 8 November, 2021.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Covid-19, Society, and Economy: the Case of Colombia (invited tele-conference). School of Public Health, SRM University Sikkim, Public Health Webinar Series. 25 June, 2021.

    JAIRO G. ISAZA-CASTRO: Assessing the impacts of large-scale macroeconomic reforms on labour markets, poverty and income distribution: the case of Colombia. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Democratic Governance in the Developing World, Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Rio de Janeiro, June 28-29, 2018.

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Computing occupational segregation indices with standard errors: an ado file application for Colombia. Paper presented at the Stata Annual Conference. Baltimore (MD), 28 July 2017. Available at: https://www.stata.com/meeting/baltimore17/slides/Baltimore17_Isaza-Castro.pdf

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO: Occupational Segregation and gender wage differences in 13 metropolitan areas of Colombia. Paper presented at the International Symposium Clacso-OLA/The New School. New York, 26 May 2016.

    ISAZA-CASTRO, J.G. & BARRY REILLY: Female Intensity, Trade Reforms and Capital Investments in Colombian Manufacturing Industries: 1981-2000. Paper presented at the 18th Meetings of the Society of Labour Economists – SOLE (University of Chicago). Boston (MA), 3 May, 2013. Available at: http://www.sole-jole.org/13354.pdf

    JAIRO ISAZA-CASTRO & BARRY REILLY: Occupational Segregation by Gender: An Empirical Analysis for Urban Colombia (1986-2004). Paper presented at Guanajuato Workshop for Young Economists. Guanajuato, Mexico. Universidad de Guanajuato, 7 August, 2010.

Service and Community Engagement

Dr. Isaza-Castro is the Director of the Center for Global Workplace Studies at the School of Business. Through this Center, Dr. Isaza-Castro works with CBU students and researchers at other institutions on interdisciplinary research in labor studies, producing evidence-based knowledge on labor markets and workforce dynamics in the Midsouth and in Latin America.

After two decades of working for Lasallian institutions, Dr. Isaza-Castro identifies closely with the Lasallian tradition of academic engagement in service of the communities CBU serves.

Office Hours

Mondays to Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.