Universidad de Chile is the top-ranked Latin American institution in both fields, placing in the 151–200 band worldwide for Economics and 301–400 for Management, the only university in the region to reach either band. The result carries particular weight for FEN, as both disciplines sit at the core of its teaching and research.
Universidad de Chile has been ranked the leading Latin American institution in both Economics and Management in the 2026 edition of the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS), published by ShanghaiRanking. The university placed in the 151–200 band worldwide for Economics and in the 301–400 band for Management, with 500 institutions ranked in each subject.
The result is especially significant for the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEN), given how closely both fields are tied to its academic and research work. Research output by FEN faculty in these areas is a key component of the university-wide performance that ShanghaiRanking assesses, through indicators covering research quality and impact, academic output, researcher recognition and international collaboration.
In Economics, no other Latin American institution reached the 151–200 band. The next tier, 201–300, includes Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Colombia’s Universidad de los Andes, while Universidad de Talca placed in the 401–500 band. In all, ten Latin American institutions feature among the 500 ranked in the subject: three from Chile, three from Mexico, two from Brazil, one from Colombia and one from Uruguay.
In Management, Universidad de Chile is likewise the only Latin American institution in the 301–400 band. The four other universities from the region on the list (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, Universidad Austral in Argentina, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil) all fall within the 401–500 band.
Faculty and research drive the result
GRAS 2026 assesses universities on nine indicators grouped into five dimensions: World-Class Faculty, World-Class Output, High-Quality Research, Research Impact and International Collaboration. These include the international standing of faculty, publications in high-impact and first-quartile (Q1) journals, citation impact and international research collaboration. Bibliometric indicators in the 2026 edition draw on publications from 2021 to 2025.
The results point to strengths directly linked to the academic and research track record built up in FEN’s fields. In Economics, performance combines academic recognition, reflected in the World-Class Faculty indicator (28.4), with high-quality research output, captured by High-Quality Research (37.2). In Management, top-tier academic output stands out in particular, with a World-Class Output score of 20.0, alongside a High-Quality Research score of 24.0.
World-Class Faculty takes into account highly cited researchers, editors-in-chief of international academic journals, leadership roles in academic organizations and international awards. High-Quality Research measures publications in first-quartile (Q1) journals. World-Class Output covers publications in each discipline’s benchmark journals as well as international academic awards.