My research interests are in theoretical political economy and other areas of applied theory. My main line of research introduces an approach to modeling decision making in informationally rich and complicated environments. The key novelty is to use the Brownian motion (and stochastic processes more generally) to represent the mapping from actions to outcomes. So far I have published nine papers using this technology, across a variety of applications (11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 27 on my C.V), and I’m actively working on several new projects (29, 30, and ongoing work). Click here to see more information on this line of work.
We hold a lunch group for people on campus interested in political economy theory. The details and schedule can be found here: Political Economy Theory Lunch
SITE conference. For the past few years I have co-organized a conference on Political Economy theory as part of the Stanford University SITE program. We see this conference as sitting at the intersection of political economy and economic theory, a venue at which political economists can gather and discuss new and interesting theory and at which economic theorists can step into political economy. We look forward to this conference continuing annually every August. In 2023 the organizing committee will be Dana Foarta, Hulya Eraslan, Federica Izzo, Nina Bobkova, and myself. Please submit your best PE theory papers and attend the conference.
Conference on the Political Economy of Environmental Sustainability. I recently organized a conference on this exciting new area jointly with Jon Bendor and in conjunction with the new Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. The conference was held on Stanford’s campus on October 14-15, 2022. The program can be found at the website here.
Working Papers
Efficient Cheap Talk in Complex Environments
with Yunus Aybas
Paper Online Appendix
Innovation and Competition on a Rugged Technological Landscape
with Nicolas Lambert and Niko Matouschek
Paper
Publications
The Dynamics of a Policy Outcome: Market Response and Bureaucratic Enforcement of a Policy Change
with Dana Foarta and Takuo Sugaya
Forthcoming at the AJPS
Paper

Agenda Control Under Policy Uncertainty
with Nolan McCarty
Forthcoming at AJPS
Paper

Ideological Competition
with Federica Izzo and Greg Martin
American Journal of Political Science Volume 67, Issue 3 (July): 687-700, 2023.

Market Competition and Political Influence: An Integrated Approach
with Dana Foarta and Takuo Sugaya
Econometrica 90:6 (November), 2723-2753, 2022.
Paper ProMarket write-up

Cause and Effect in Political Polarization: A Dynamic Analysis
with Juan Carlos Carbajal
Journal of Political Economy 130:4 (April), 825-880, 2022.
Paper

The Novelty of Innovation: Disruption, Competition, and Antitrust Policy
with Niko Matouschek
Management Science 68:1 (January), 37-51, 2022
Paper Kellogg Insight

The Power of Referential Advice
with Nicolas Lambert and Niko Matouschek
Journal of Political Economy 129 (November): 3073-3140, 2021.
Paper LSE Management Blog

Arrow Meets Hotelling: Modeling Spatial Innovation
with Nicolas Lambert and Niko Matouschek
American Economic Association Papers & Proceedings (non-refereed) 111: 538-543, 2021.
Paper

The Risk of Failure: Trial and Error Learning and Long-Run Performance
with Niko Matouschek
American Economic Journal — Microeconomics 11 (February): 44-78, 2019.
Paper

Durable Policy, Political Accountability, and Active Waste
with Davin Raiha
Quarterly Journal of Political Science Vol. 12: No. 1, pp 59-97, 2017.
Paper

Precedent and Doctrine in a Complicated World
with Tom S. Clark
American Political Science Review 111 (February): 184-203, 2017.

Dynamic Policymaking with Decay
with Greg Martin
American Journal of Political Science Volume 61, Issue 1 (January): 50-67, 2017.

Experimentation in Federal Systems
with Bård Harstad
Quarterly Journal of Economics 130 (2): 951-1002, 2015

Preemptive Policy Experimentation
with Patrick Hummel
Econometrica 82 (4): 1509-1528, 2014

Gridlock and Delegation in a Changing World
with Keith Krehbiel
American Journal of Political Science 58 (4): 819-834, 2014

Searching for Good Policies
American Political Science Review 105 (4): 643-662, 2011

Searching and Learning by Trial and Error
American Economic Review 101 (6): 2277-2308, 2011

The Wisdom of the Minority
with Johannes Hörner
Journal of Economic Theory 144 (4): 1421-39, 2009

Majority Rule When Voters Like to Win
Games and Economic Behavior 64 (2): 393-420, 2008

A Theory of Policy Expertise
Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3 (2): 123-140, 2008
Appendix

Political Motivations
Review of Economic Studies 75 (3): 671-697, 2008

Context-Dependent Voting and Political Ambiguity
with Catherine H. Wilson
Journal of Public Economics 92 (3-4): 565-581, 2008

Turnout, Polarization, and Duverger’s Law
with Catherine H. Wilson
Journal of Politics 69 (4): 1047-1056, 2007
Appendix

Lies, Damned Lies, and Political Campaigns
with Simon Wilkie
Games and Economic Behavior 60 (2): 262-286, 2007

Bandwagons and Momentum in Sequential Voting
Review of Economic Studies 74 (3): 653-684, 2007

Context-dependent Voting
with Catherine H. Wilson
Quarterly Journal of Political Science 1 (3): 227-254, 2006

Electoral Competition in Heterogeneous Districts
Journal of Political Economy 113 (5): 1116-1145, 2005

Principles of Network Development and Evolution: An Experimental Study
with Charles Plott
Journal of Public Economics 89 (8): 1469-1495, 2005

Duverger’s Hypothesis, the Run-Off Rule, and Electoral Competition
Political Analysis 13 (3): 209-232, 2005
