Research

Below are some of my ongoing research projects. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to learn more or request a copy of any of the papers.

Book Project

  • The Political Determinants (and Deterrents) of Public Administration Careers in Developing Countries
    Building on previous findings, this book project examines how political factors—both at the macro level (e.g., democracy, populism, political instability) and the micro level (e.g., ideologies, identity-based exclusion)—influence the attractiveness and durability of public administration careers among tertiary-educated professionals in low- and middle-income democracies. It analyzes these political dynamics in relation to widely recognized determinants such as salary, pro-social motivations, and career incentives, with the aim of developing a political theory of public sector careers in developing country contexts.

Paper under Review and Resubmit (R&R)

  • The Limits of Movementism: Goal-Oriented Bureaucrats Resisting Resource Mobilization

Paper under Review

  • Political Instability and Public Administration Attractiveness: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in Peru
  • Political Instability and the Erosion of Public Administration Careers: Evidence from Latin America

Working Papers

  • The Criminal Origins of Social Identities: Identity Entrepreneurship Among Corrupt Politicians
  • The Technocratic Origins of Sectoral Strategic Value: The Liberalization of Agriculture and Textile Sectors in Peru and Chile (with Roselyn Hsueh, Temple University)
  • Identity Executioners, a New Type of Identity Entrepreneurship: Some Evidence from Lima, Peru
  • The Pre-Electoral Payoffs of Political Competition on Subnational Bureaucratization: Evidence from Peru’s Local Governments (with Luis Garcia, Temple University)