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INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE COOPERATION
Details: Ph.D. project at University of Konstanz and ongoing work
Funding: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD); University of Konstanz Duration: October 2010 - present Summary
This project focuses on the negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and explores the political and economic determinants of climate decision making. Three questions distinctly motivate this project: 1) What are the domestic sources of national bargaining positions at the UNFCCC? 2) How does the salience of climate change aff ect national success at the UNFCCC? and 3) Can weak countries shape the fi nal agreements at the climate negotiations?
Data
I collected an original dataset of countries' positions on several "issues" (agenda points, policies and topics) raised at the UN climate negotiations. I performed a content analysis of the UNFCCC National Communications and the climate agreements. The dataset tracks positions, saliences and outcomes at two points in time: the years before the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol (2001-2004) and the post-Kyoto Protocol negotiation years (2008-2011).
Here the "UNFCCC Negotiations Dataset" files and the coding notes. FINANCIAL CRISES, INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS, AND THE EU
Details: Collaborative research project with Gerald Schneider
The handling of the sovereign debt crisis in the European Union has raised fears of democratic deficit and mass appraisal. Theoretical conjectures go that decision making in the countries of the Union has become less democratic, that European Central Bank now calls the shots in Europe, and that fiscal consolidation will exponentially increase the severity of mass protests. This project confronts these perspectives with a systematic analysis of historical information on European crises. We operationalize variables for central bank independence, democratic delegation and labour mobilization to assess the potential for reform in instances of financial shocks.
MASS WELFARE AND PROGRESSIVE TAXATION
Details: Postdoctoral research project with Kenneth Scheve and David Stasavage Funding: Stanford University and New York University Duration: September 2013 - April 2016 Summary Studying the evolution of income inequality requires information on taxation measures. This project seeks to track and understand historical top rates of income taxes in twenty developed countries from 1816 (or the date of national independence) until today. Data The database was compiled by consulting original legislation and fiscal documents for each of the twenty countries of interest. The final data and the related codebook can be found here. IMMIGRATION AND PUBLIC OPINION
Details: Collaborative research project with Florian Kern Funding: British Academy/Leverhulme; University of Essex Duration: April 2015 - present Summary Governments across developed countries growingly face decisions over whether to open their borders and provide welfare to foreign immigrants. Public opinion can be a major factor in the willingness of governments to use public funds for this purpose. This project looks at the scenario in which publics exposed to tragic migration — that is, migration that is linked to humanitarian crises and failures of international cooperation — assess the entry of migrants. We aim at clarifying how strongly emotional triggers affect considerations due to threats of social competition, past immigration experience and proximity to point of entry of immigrants. DataThe data collection focuses on Europe and involves surveys, lab experiments, archival work and media content analysis, as well as field experiments and qualitative interviews. Read summary of research in Italy (including original interviews in Sicily) here. |