Research
My research explores governance and accountability in lower- and middle-income countries. The primary focus of my early work was on understanding how international development actors respond to variation in the quality of governance in the states where they work. My current work builds on this earlier work but turns primarily to the level of the individual: in a number of projects, I explore variation in the ways in which citizens react to and use different kinds of information about politics, politicians, and international actors.
My research is organized into the following topical areas on this page:
Foreign Aid Effectiveness
Foreign Aid Allocation
Corruption
Political Participation
Taxation, Redistribution, and Public Service Provision
International Political Economy
Law and International Law
Methodology
Commentary
For a chronological list of my research, please click here.
Foreign Aid Effectiveness
"Foreign Aid and Political Support: How Politicians’ Aid Oversight Capacity and Voter Information Condition Credit Giving." With Kate Baldwin. 2023. World Politics 75.1 (January).
"Foreign Aid and Quality of Government." With Simone Dietrich. 2021. Oxford Handbook of Quality of Government. New York: Oxford University Press.
“Influencing the Means but Not the Ends: The Role of Entertainment-Education Interventions in Development.” With Christopher Grady and Alice Iannantuoni. 2021. World Development 138.
"How Do Different Forms of Foreign Aid Affect Government Legitimacy? Evidence from an Informational Experiment in Uganda." With Kate Baldwin. 2020. Studies in Comparative International Development 55.2 (June): 160-83.
"Foreign Aid and State-Society Relations: Theory, Evidence, and New Directions for Research." With Robert A. Blair. 2020. Studies in Comparative International Development 55.2 (June): 123-42.
"Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? The Division of Financing in World Bank Projects and Project Performance." 2019. Politics and Governance 7.2.
"Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? The Division of Financing in World Bank Projects and Project Performance." UNU-WIDER Working Paper 2019/6, February.
"Aiding the Virtuous Circle? International Development Assistance and Citizen Confidence in Government in Bangladesh." With Simone Dietrich and Minhaj Mahmud. 2018. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 12.4: 468-83.
"Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy, and Domestic Government Legitimacy: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh." With Simone Dietrich and Minhaj Mahmud. 2018. Journal of Politics 80.1 (January): 133-48.
"Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy, and Domestic Government Legitimacy: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh." With Simone Dietrich and Minhaj Mahmud. AidData Working Paper No. 16. December.
"Bypass Aid and Perceptions of Local Government Performance and Legitimacy." With Kate Baldwin. 2018. AidData Working Paper No. 56. June.
"Perceptions of Foreign Aid Project Quality in Bangladesh." With Simone Dietrich and Minhaj Mahmud. 2017. Research and Politics 4.4 (October-December): 1-6.
"Foreign Aid and Government Legitimacy." With Simone Dietrich. 2015. Journal of Experimental Political Science 2.2 (December): 164-71.
"Targeting, Accountability and Capture in Development Projects." 2014. International Studies Quarterly 58.2 (June): 31-42.
"The World Bank in the Post-Structural Adjustment Era." With Shyam Kulkarni. 2014. Manuela Moschella and Catherine Weaver, eds. Handbook of Global Economic Governance: Players, Power and Paradigms. New York: Routledge, pp. 249-64.
"The Obstacles to Foreign Aid Harmonization: Lessons from Decentralization Support in Indonesia." 2012. Studies in Comparative International Development 47.3 (September): 316-41.
"Petroleum Blues: The Political Economy of Resources and Conflict in Chad." With John Gould. 2012. Paivi Lujala and Siri Aas Rustad, eds. High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. New York: Earthscan/Routledge.
"Betting on Oil: The World Bank's Attempt to Promote Accountability in Chad." With John Gould. 2011. Global Governance 17: 229-46.
"Donor Program Harmonization, Aid Effectiveness and Decentralized Governance." With Paul Smoke. 2011. Development Partners Working Group on Local Governance and Decentralisation Working Paper; January; Bonn, Germany.
"Accountability, Participation and Foreign Aid Effectiveness." 2010. International Studies Review 12.2 (June).
"The Politics of Effective Foreign Aid." With Joseph Wright. 2010. Annual Review of Political Science 13 (June).
"A Theory of Aid Targeting and Capture." February 2009.
"An Obsolescing Bargain in Chad: Explaining Shifts in Leverage between the Government and the World Bank." With John Gould. 2007. Business and Politics 9.2.
Foreign Aid Allocation
“A Matter of Trust: Public Support for Country Ownership over Aid.” With Kentaro Hirose, Gabriella R. Montinola, and Masaru Kohno. Forthcoming. Review of International Organizations.
"Recipient Governments and Aid Flows." 2024. Handbook of Aid and Development. Raj M. Desai, Shantayanan Devarajan, and Jennifer Tobin, eds. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 187-204.
"Donor Competition and Public Support for Foreign Aid Sanctions." With Masaru Kohno, Gabriella R. Montinola, and Gento Kato. 2021. Political Research Quarterly 74.1 (March): 212-27.
"Project Design Decisions of Egalitarian and Non-Egalitarian International Organizations: Evidence from the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank." With Alice Iannantuoni and Charla Waeiss. 2021. Review of International Organizations 16.2: 431-62.
"Overseas Credit Claiming and Domestic Support for Foreign Aid." With Simone Dietrich and Susan D. Hyde. 2019. Journal of Experimental Political Science 6.3: 159-70.
"Splitting the Check: Explaining Patterns of Counterpart Commitments in World Bank Projects." With Jaclyn Streitfeld. 2018. Review of International Political Economy 25.6: 884-908.
"Foreign Aid Funnel? A Placebo-Based Assessment of Aid Flows to Non-Permanent U.N. Security Council Members." With Evangeline Reynolds. 2016. Research and Politics 3.1 (February): 1-9.
"The Role of Governance in Determining Foreign Aid Flow Composition." With Gina Martinez. 2015. World Development 66: 516-31.
"Commentary: New Views on Foreign Aid -- Introduction." 2013. International Interactions. 39.3 (July): 386-9.
"Social Capital and the Allocation of Development Projects." January 2013. Presented at the 2007 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting.
"The World Bank and the Global Financial Crisis: The Reemergence of Lending to Middle-Income Countries." 2011. Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations 12.2 (Summer/Fall): 57-72.
"Choosing to Target: What Types of Countries Get Different Types of World Bank Projects." 2010. World Politics 62.3 (July).
Corruption
"Corruption Victimization and Anti-Incumbent Voting." With Aimée Bourassa and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2022. Governance 35.4 (October): 1163-81.
"Evidence Review on Anti-Corruption Education." 2022. Paper prepared for the USAID DRG Learning, Evaluation, and Research (DRG-LER) II Activity for NORC at the University of Chicago.
"Information Credibility and Responses to Corruption: A Replication and Extension in Argentina." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2020. Political Science Research and Methods 8.1 (January): 169-77.
"Continuity and Change in Public Attitudes toward Corruption." With Kelly Senters and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2018. Barry Ames, ed. Routledge Handbook of Brazilian Politics. New York: Routledge.
"Persistent Malfeasance Despite Institutional Innovations and Public Outcry: A Survey of Corruption in Brazil." With Kelly Senters. 2018. Barney Warf, ed. Handbook on the Geographies of Corruption. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 154-68.
"Can Citizens Discern? Information Credibility, Political Sophistication, and the Punishment of Corruption in Brazil." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2017. Journal of Politics 79.1 (January): 60-74.
"Who’s in Charge Here? Direct and Indirect Accusations and Voter Punishment of Corruption." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2016. Political Research Quarterly 69.2: 207-19.
"Political Corruption and Partisan Engagement: Evidence from Brazil." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2015. Journal of Politics in Latin America 7.1: 45-81.
"Lacking Information or Condoning Corruption: When Do Voters Support Corrupt Politicians?" With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2013. Comparative Politics 45.4 (July): 418-36.
Summarized in Wilson Quarterly (Autumn 2013)
Democratic Audit UK blog post (December 2013)
Panoramas blog post (March 2015)
"Using Field Experiments to Understand Information as an Antidote to Corruption." With Paul Testa and Mark M. Fredrickson. 2012. Danila Serra and Leonard Wantchekon, eds. Research in Experimental Economics, Volume 15: New Advances in Experimental Research on Corruption. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 213-46.
Political Participation
“Ignoring Women’s Performance: A Survey Experiment on Policy Implementation in Argentina.” With Gustavo Diaz, Virginia Oliveros, and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. Forthcoming. British Journal of Political Science.
"Political Knowledge in the Context of Changing Institutions." With Sofia Vidotto and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. Forthcoming. Political Research Quarterly.
“Knowledge of Social Rights as Political Knowledge.” With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2023. Political Behavior 45: 1911-1931.
"Voter Beliefs and Strategic Voting in Two-Round Elections." With Luke Plutowski and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2021. Political Research Quarterly 74.4 (December): 852-65.
"Strategic Voting in a Two-Round, Multi-Candidate Election." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2019. Noam Lupu, Virginia Oliveros, and Luis Schiumerini, eds. Campaigns and Voters in Developing Democracies: Argentina in Comparative Perspective. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
"The Challenges of Untangling the Relationship between Participation and Happiness.” With Ashlea Rundlett. 2015. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 26.1 (February): 5-23.
"Partisan Protesters and Non-Partisan Protests in Brazil." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2014. Journal of Politics in Latin America 6.1 (April): 137-50.
Summarized in Época Negócios (30 April 2014)
"The Link Between Voting and Life Satisfaction in Latin America." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2011. Latin American Politics and Society 53.4 (Winter): 101-26.
"Political Participation and Quality of Life." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2008. Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper 638.
"Explaining Variation in the Structural Correlates of Protest Participation." September 2009. Presented at the 2009 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario.
"A Multilevel Model of Interpersonal Trust and Protest Participation." August 2008. Presented at the 2008 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts.
Taxation, Redistribution, and Public Service Provision
"Credit Claiming by Labeling." With Virginia Oliveros and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. 2023. Comparative Political Studies 56.13: 2099-2127 .
"Tax Reform and Demands for Accountability in the Philippines." With Gabriella R. Montinola, Masaru Kohno, and Ronald D. Holmes. 2021. Journal of Southeast Asian Economies 38.1 (April): 1-23.
"Governance Obstacles to Geothermal Energy Development in Indonesia." With Matthew Cawvey. 2015. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 34.1: 27-56.
"Public Service Provision under Conditions of Insufficient Citizen Demand: Insights from the Urban Sanitation Sector in Indonesia." With Abdul Gaffar Karim and Berly Martawardaya. 2014. World Development 60 (August): 31-42.
"Exploring Changes Over Time in the Targeting of a Cash Transfer Program in Ecuador." April 2010. Presented at the 2009 and 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings.
International Political Economy
“World Bank.” With Miles D. Williams. Forthcoming. In Katja Freistein, Julia Leininger, and Silke Weinlich, eds. Handbook of International Organizations: Theories, Concepts, and Empirical Insights. Berlin: De Gruyter.
"Foreign Pressure and Public Opinion in Target States." With Masaru Kohno and Gabriella Montinola. 2023. World Development 169.
“Development Policy.” With Seung-Uk Huh. 2021. In Jon Pevehouse and Leonard Seabrooke, eds. The Oxford Handbook of International Political Economy. New York: Oxford University Press.
"Market Access or Efficient Production: Why Did South Korean Outward Direct Investment Persist After the Crisis?" 2007. Asian Business and Management 6.3 (September).
"Inter-Korean Economic Relations." With Samuel S. Kim. 2004. In Inter-Korean Relations: Problems and Prospects. Samuel S. Kim, ed. New York: Palgrave.
Law and International Law
"Preferences for Traditional and Formal Sector Justice Institutions to Address Land Disputes in Rural Mali." With Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz. 2021. World Development 142 (June).
"Attitudes Toward Consent-Based and Non-Consent-Based International Law in a Regional Power Context." With Evangeline Reynolds, Amâncio Jorge Oliveira, and Janina Onuki. 2018. International Interactions 44.4: 661-80.
Methodology
"Third-Person versus Second-Person Vignettes in Survey Experimental Research on Sensitive Topics." With Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. July 2013.
Commentary
"Branding Foreign Aid: Soft Power and Popular Attitudes in International Development." People, Power, Politics Podcast. June 2024.
"Voter Attitudes toward Corruption." Anti-Corruption Conversations Podcast. Episode 9. December 2021.
"Will Trump's Name on Stimulus Checks Help Him Win Votes in November?" With Virginia Oliveros and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro. Monkey Cage. The Washington Post, 29 April 2020.
"Does Japan’s Foreign Aid in Africa Provide Diplomatic Benefits?" With Kate Baldwin and J. Berkshire Miller. The National Interest, 31 October 2016.
"Giving Strategic Interests Another Chance ... And Still Finding Evidence for Need-Based Aid Allocation," blog post for the International Studies Quarterly online symposium in which I replicate and extend the analysis from the article “Is US Humanitarian Aid Based Primarily on Need or Self-Interest?” by Rob Kevlihan, Karl DeRouen Jr. and Glen Biglaiser, 1 August 2014.
"Melhor acesso à informação reduz corrupção [Better access to information reduces corruption]," interview with Sergio Praça and Carolina Toledo of the Center of Politics and Economics of the Public Sector (CEPESP) at Fundaçao Getulio Vargas (FGV) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 19 August 2012. (Interview in English.)
"From Structural Adjustment to the Post-Washington Consensus and Beyond: Paradigm Shifts in Development Aid," University YMCA Friday Forum Lecture, 24 February 2012.
"A Minute with ..." [Comments on relief funding in the wake of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake], interview with Craig Chamberlain, University of Illinois News Bureau, 25 January 2010.
