Research Papers and Topics

Current research projects:

"Donor influence in international financial institutions: Deciphering what alignment measures measure."
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #8 (173 K)

"The impact of globalization on women: Testing Vandana Shiva's critique of development" with Sally J. Scholz.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #15 (172 K)

"The political economy of World Bank lending: An empirical analysis of environmental and social safeguards at the World Bank " with Kevin Gallagher.
Working Paper:   Abstract   GEGI WP #18 (802 K)

"Accounting for data uncertainty: Biases in web-scraped Chinese aid data"
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #45 (212 K)


Published/forthcoming papers:

"The World Bank COVID-19 response: Politics as usual?" with Carolyn McWhirter.  Review of International Organizations, July 2022, 17(3):397-425.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #46 (112 K)

"Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an instrument for Chinese influence? Supplementary versus remedial multilateralism" with Ayse Kaya & Jonathan Kay.  World Development, September 2021, 145:105531.

"Introduction to the Special Issue: In memoriam Stephen Knack" with Philip Keefer.  Review of International Organizations, July 2021, 16(3):473-494.

"Do domestic politics shape U.S. influence in the World Bank?" with Erasmus Kersting.  Review of International Organizations, January 2021, 16(1):29-58.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-018-9321-8
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #28 (1126 K)

"The rise of supplemental lending at the World Bank" with Erasmus Kersting.  Canadian Journal of Economics, November 2019, 52(4):1655-1698. 
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #30 (143 K)

"What influences World Bank project evaluations?" with Katharina Michaelowa.  In Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development: Micro and Macro Perspectives, eds. Nabamita Dutta and Claudia Williamson. Palgrave/McMillan, September/October 2019, 105-150. 
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #26 (439 K)

"With a little help from my friends: Global electioneering and World Bank lending" with Erasmus Kersting. Journal of Development Economics, July 2016, 121:153-165.
Working Paper:  Abstract   VSBEcon #25 (152 K)

"Informal influence in the Inter-American Development Bank" with Elizabeth Bland. In B. Mak Arvin and Bryon Lew, Editors, Handbook on the Economics of Foreign Aid, November 2015, 255-279.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #22 (237 K)

"Assessing the impact of World Bank preparation on project outcomes." Journal of Development Economics, July 2015, 115:111-123.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #20 (241 K)

"Aid and democracy redux" with Erasmus Kersting. European Economic Review, April 2014, 67:125-143.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #23 (200 K)

"The political economy of project preparation: An empirical analysis of World Bank projects." Journal of Development Economics, November 2013, 105:211-225.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #14 (1845 K)

"An empirical assessment of informal influence in the World Bank." Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 2013, 61(2):431-464.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #9 (200 K)

"What determines the size of aid projects?" World Development, November 2011, 39(11):1981-1994.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #10 (155 K)

"Informal influence in the Asian Development Bank." Review of International Organizations, September 2011, 6(3-4):223-257.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #13 (749 K)

"The impact of aid on growth revisited: Do donor motives matter?" with Axel Dreher. Economics Letters, June 2010, 107(3):338-340.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #5 (171 K)

"Changing aid regimes? U.S. foreign aid from the Cold War to the War on Terror" with Robert K. Fleck. Journal of Development Economics, March 2010, 91(2):185-197.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #1 (216 K)

"Special focus:   Foreign aid." Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, February 2010, 50(1):1-2.

"The political economy of conditionality:   An empirical analysis of World Bank loan disbursements." Journal of Development Economics, May 2009, 89(1):51-61.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VCEWP #92 (216 K)

"Donor influence in multilateral development banks:  the case of the Asian Development Bank." Review of International Organizations, June 2006, 1(2):173-195.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VCEWP #70 (99 K)

"How do political changes influence U.S. bilateral aid allocations? Evidence from panel data" with Robert K. Fleck. Review of Development Economics, May 2006, 10(2):210-223.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #67 (124 K)

"World Bank independence: a model and statistical analysis of U.S. influence" with Robert K. Fleck. Review of Development Economics, May 2006, 10(2):224-240.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #53 (243K)

"World Bank lending and regulation." Economic Systems, December 2005, 29(4):384-407.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #66 (165 K)

"Aid and regulation." Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, May 2005, 45(2-3):325-345.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #65 (86 K)

"Reassessing the role of constituency in Congressional voting" with Robert K. Fleck. Public Choice, July 2002, 112:31-53.
Working Paper:   Abstract

"World Bank-borrower relations and project supervision." Canadian Journal of Development Studies, March 2001, 22(1):191-218.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #32 (171 K)

"Foreign aid and domestic politics: Voting in Congress and the allocation of USAID contracts across Congressional districts" with Robert K. Fleck. Southern Economic Journal, January 2001, 67(3):598-617.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #44 (2131 K)

"Supervision and performance: the case of World Bank projects." Journal of Development Economics, June 2000, 62:233-259.

"Sovereignty and NGOs." In Kendall Stiles, Editor, Global Institutions and Local Empowerment, St. Martins/MacMillan Press, International Political Economy Series, 1999, 48-64.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #40 (62 K)

"Aid and sovereignty." Social Theory and Practice, Spring 1999, 25(1):79-92.
Working Paper:   Abstract  VCEWP #38 (53 K)

 

Notes/Comments:

"To Invest or Insure? A Comment on Wright (2008)" with Christopher Kline.
Working Paper:   Abstract   VSBEcon #21 (66 K)