Biography

I am a political economist who focuses on economic development and government transparency in different political regime types. I completed my PhD at Duke University in April 2012.
My dissertation, ‘Ambidextrous Regimes: Leadership Survival and Fiscal Transparency’, explores how non-democratic leaders manipulate crucial information on fiscal processes as a strategy of rule. The conventional wisdom assumes that autocracies are opaque, failing to make public any reliable economic data and banning political contestation of policies. Democratic regimes, at the other end of the spectrum, are expected to be more open and inclusive because of direct accountability mechanisms. However, my research finds that even in very repressive regimes, some issues are open to contestation, while young democracies often sweep certain policies under the rug. This work draws on primary sources and follows the trajectories of three cases: a single party regime (Romania), a monarchy with limited multiparty competition (Morocco) and a military regime (Turkey).
The Max Weber Fellowship will provide unique intellectual resources to help me develop this project into a book manuscript to be submitted for publication.
In addition, my research interests include state capacity, political clientelism, bureaucratic reform, social movements, as well as the politics of healthcare. The residence at the EUI will also allow me to expand a project on the historical evolution of infant mortality policies in Italy and England, and to conduct archival work.
Fields of expertise: Political Economy, Economic Development, Politics in non-Democracies.