Hi and welcome to my personal website!
I am a researcher whose work lies primarily at the crossroads between comparative politics and global development, with a particular focus on the interplay between the state, political regimes, and development, as well as pandemic politics, international aid, and measurement and indicators.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Prior to my current role, I was a Visiting Researcher at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER), a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Insubria, and taught a master’s level course in Theories and Policies of Economic Development at the Sapienza University of Rome.
I received my PhD from the Sapienza University of Rome, with a dissertation titled ‘On the Measurement of State Capacity: Quantitative Questions and Conceptual Considerations’.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer reviewed articles
Working papers
Policy briefs
Opinion pieces and blogs
RESEARCH
Work in progress
Sociopolitical Causes and Consequences of Different Pandemic Responses (with T. Hale and A. Petherick)
Countries around the world reacted in different ways to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, some adopted stringent and prolonged lockdowns, whereas others took a more lenient approach to the fight against the virus. While many studies have explored the causes and consequences of these divergent strategies, critical questions remain unanswered. Drawing on the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) data, our research aims at shedding light on the key social and political factors that contribute to this variation as well as the consequences of different strategies in a broad comparative perspective.
The State, Democracy, and Development: New Evidence with a New Index of State Capacity
A growing body of cross-national scholarship investigates the links among state capacity, democracy, and development. Yet, an effective empirical testing of the theories on the topic requires better quantifications of state capacity. At present, scholars have plenty of measures of state capacity to choose from, but most of them lack in validity and analytical ability. This study proposes a new cross-national index of state capacity and uses this new index to push forward the literature on the links among state capacity, democracy, and development.
COVID-19 and the State in the Global South (with R. M. Gisselquist)
In spite of being fragile and poor, many countries in the Global South have been praised for their policy responses to COVID-19. This is perplexing, given that effective public institutions should matter for development outcomes. Through a mixed methods approach, based on the findings of a large-N regression analysis, this project selects some of the most interesting country cases in the Global South and analyses and compares the relationship between public institutions and the pandemic in these countries.
Quality of Government and Environmental Wellbeing in the EU (with C. Gigliarano and C. Montorsi)
Conventional wisdom holds that quality of government is crucial for advancing human wellbeing, yet studies on the environmental impact of effective institutions are scarce and inconclusive. Considering the increasingly severe environmental threats faced by humanity, understanding whether quality of government promotes environmental wellbeing is of primary importance for both researchers and policymakers. Through a novel multidimensional cross-national dataset on environmental wellbeing, this project aims to gain knowledge on the environmental effects of institutional quality in the EU.
TEACHING
Lecturer
Theories and Policies of Economic Development (SECS-P/02), Master’s degree course in Development and International Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – AY 2021/2022
Teaching assistant
Political Economy (SECS-P/01), Master’s degree course in Development and International Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – AY 2021/2022
Political Economy (SECS-P/01), Master’s degree course in Development and International Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – AY 2020/2021
Political Economy (SECS-P/01), Master’s degree course in Development and International Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – AY 2019/2020
CV
Current academic positions
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Previous academic positions
Visiting Researcher, World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Insubria
Adjunct Lecturer, Sapienza University of Rome
Research consultancies
World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) – 2020-2022
Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome – 2019, 2021-2023
Research visits
World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) – 2020
Quality of Government Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg – 2020
Doctoral Programme in Political, Societal, and Regional Changes, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki – 2019
Education
PhD in Applied Social Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome – 2021
MA in Development and International Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome, summa cum laude – 2017
BA in Humanities, University of Helsinki – 2012
Scholarships, fellowships, and awards
Italian Political Science Association’s (SISP) ‘Carlo Maria Santoro’ prize for the best paper presented by a non-tenured member at the previous year’s SISP conference – 2023
Visiting PhD Fellowship, World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) – 2020
PhD Scholarship, Sapienza University of Rome – 2017-2021
Andrea Vaccaro 