Research

My research is in the areas of political economy and development economics, focusing on long-run economic growth, culture, geography, and institutions. The publications and completed papers are presented below:

Papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals

Dynamical system model predicts when social learners impair collective performance”,
with Yang V. (MIT), Galesic M. (Santa Fe Institute), McGuinness H. (John Hopkins),
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118.35 (2021).
<Journal Article> < Working Paper >

National Identity and Public Goods Provision”,
sole-authored,
Comparative Economic Studies 62.1 (2020): 1-33.
< Journal Article > < Working Paper > < Bergson Prize award for Best Publication >

Do Migrants Think Differently? Evidence from Eastern European and post-Soviet states”,
with Berlinschi R. (KU Leuven),
International Migration Review 53.3 (2019): 831-868.
< Journal Article >

Culture, Diffusion, and Economic Development: The Problem of Observational Equivalence”,
with Ozak O. (Southern Methodist University),
Economics Letters 158 (2017): 94-100.
< Journal Article >

The European Union as an International Donor: Perceptions from Latin America and the Caribbean”,
with Serban D. (King’s College London),
European Journal of Development Research (2020): 1-20.
< Journal Article >

Two State Disputes and Outside Intervention: The Case of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict”,
sole-authored,
Eurasian Economic Review 7.1 (2017): 69-93.
< Journal Article >

Completed papers listed in working paper series

“How Does the World Bank Influence the Development Policy Priorities of Low-Income and Lower-Middle Income Countries?”,
with Knack S. (World Bank), Parks B. (William & Mary), DiLorenzo M. (Old Dominion),
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series 9225.
< Working Paper  >

“Culture, Diffusion, and Economic development”,
with Ozak O. (Southern Methodist University),
LICOS Discussion Paper Series 382/2016.
< Working Paper >

Policy reports

“Measuring Intellectual Property Rights: Existing Indices, Addressing Gaps and Suggestions for Policymakers”,
with Matthew Chervenak (Sunwater Institute), Mark Cohen (Berkeley Center for Law & Technology)
< Full Report >

“Development Cooperation from a Partner Perspective: How can Germany and other donors perform better in the eyes of their partner countries?“,
DEval – German Institute for Development Evaluation, 2020, Bonn, Germany.
< Full Report > < Technical Appendix >

“Great Power Competition in former Soviet space. Public perceptions and elite alignment of the United States, Russia, and China.”,
Harriman Institute, Columbia University, 2019, New York City, NY.
< Project  > < Policy Memo >

“Listening to Leaders 2018. Is development cooperation tuned-in or tone-deaf?”,
College of William & Mary, 2018, Williamsburg, VA.
< Executive Summary  > < Full Report > < Dataset >

Blog posts

“What makes the World Bank so influential—its money or its ideas?
Future Development, May 19, 2020, Brookings Institution.
< Blog >