Hi, and welcome to my personal website!
I am an interdisciplinary researcher whose work lies at the crossroads of comparative politics and global development. I mainly study the state and political regimes, their measurement, their interplay, and their links with development outcomes, especially in challenging contexts like fragile countries and crisis situations.
I am currently a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. In my previous roles, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and a visiting researcher at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER).
I hold a PhD from Sapienza University of Rome, with a dissertation titled ‘On the Measurement of State Capacity: Quantitative Questions and Conceptual Considerations’.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer reviewed articles
Vaccaro, A., C. Montorsi, and C. Gigliarano. 2025. “Quality of Government for Environmental Wellbeing? Subnational Evidence from European Regions.” Regional Studies, Regional Science. 12(1): 357–380.
Vaccaro, A. and A.V. Panaro. 2025. “It’s the State, Indeed! How State Capacity Facilitates Social Equality in Authoritarian Regimes.” Contemporary Politics. 31(1): 24–45.
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2024. “Do the Principles of Effective Development Co-Operation Improve Development Outcomes? The Case for Clearer Definitions and Measurement.” Development Policy Review. 42(1): e12731.
Gisselquist, R.M. and A. Vaccaro. 2023. “COVID-19 and the State: Exploring a Puzzling Relationship in the Early Stages of the Pandemic.” Journal of International Development 35(5): 800–819.
Vaccaro, A. 2023. “Measures of State Capacity: So Similar, yet So Different.” Quality and Quantity 57(3): 2281–2302.
Panaro, A.V. and A. Vaccaro. 2023. “Income Inequality in Authoritarian Regimes: The Role of Political Institutions and State Capacity.” Italian Political Science Review 53(2): 161–178.
Vaccaro, A. 2022. “An Empirical Evaluation of Common Cross-National Measures of State Capacity.” Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies 76(1): 155–166.
Caterino, C., L.M. Solivetti, and A. Vaccaro. 2022. “Justice as a Pillar of Quality of Life: Distribution of Trust in Justice across European Countries.” Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies 76(4): 27–38.
Vaccaro, A. 2021. “Comparing Measures of Democracy: Statistical Properties, Convergence, and Interchangeability.” European Political Science 20: 666–684.
Books
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro, eds. 2025. Fragile Aid: Development Cooperation in Weak States and Conflict Contexts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gisselquist, R.M., and A. Vaccaro, eds. 2025. How States Respond to Crisis: Pandemic Governance across the Global South. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Book chapters
Vaccaro, A. 2025. ‘Measures of Democracy.’ In Encyclopedia of Measurement in Social Sciences (Second Edition), ed. S. Sinharay. Elsevier.
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2025. ‘Does Development Cooperation Work under Fragility? Evidence from across the Globe.’ In Fragile Aid: Development Cooperation in Weak States and Conflict Contexts, eds. R.M. Gisselquist, P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gisselquist, R.M., and A. Vaccaro. 2025. ‘What COVID-19 Can Tell Us about the State: A Global Look at the First Year of the Pandemic.’ In How States Respond to Crisis: Pandemic Governance across the Global South, eds. R.M. Gisselquist and A. Vaccaro. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pasca di Magliano, R., and A. Vaccaro. 2020. ‘A Macro-Level Analysis of the Economic and Social Impact of Microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa.’ In Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Finance, eds. M. La Torre and H. Chiappini. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Working papers
Vaccaro, A. 2025. “Inequality and Redistributive Taxation in the Global South.” WIDER Working Papers 2025/31 (May 2025).
Vaccaro, A. and R.M. Gisselquist. 2024. “The Legacy of Stateness: Using Stateness Stock to Predict Current Fragility.” V-Dem Users Working Papers 2024/59 (September 2024).
Vaccaro, A. and R.M. Gisselquist. 2024. “Statebuilding in Fragile Countries: What Can We Learn from Past Stateness?” WIDER Working Papers 2024/49 (August 2024).
Hale, T., A. Petherick, T. Phillips, J. Anania, B. Andretti de Mello, N. Angrist, …, and A. Vaccaro. 2023. “Variation in Government Responses to COVID-19.” Blavatnik School of Government Working Papers BSG-WP-2020/032 (Version 15, June 2023).
Vaccaro, A. 2023. “Digging Deeper into the State-Democracy Nexus: The Role of Civic Participation in Fostering Impartial Bureaucracy.” WIDER Working Papers 2023/85 (June 2023).
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2023. “Do the Effectiveness Principles Matter for Development? Evidence from Aid Effectiveness Data.” WIDER Working Papers 2023/60 (April 2023).
Vaccaro, A. 2022. “Ethnic Dominance and Exclusion: Unpacking Cross-National Data.” WIDER Working Papers 2022/25 (March 2022).
Gisselquist, R.M., and A. Vaccaro. 2021. “COVID-19 and the State.” WIDER Working Papers 2021/80 (May 2021).
Vaccaro, A. 2020. “Measures of State Capacity: Same Same, but Different?” QoG Working Paper Series 2020(9): 1–70.
Policy briefs
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2025. “How to Make Aid Work in Fragile States.” WIDER Policy Brief 3/25, August 2025.
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2022. “Development Effectiveness in Fragile Contexts: Evidence from an International Research Conference.” WIDER Policy Brief 4/22, December 2022.
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2022. “Building Evidence Around the Effectiveness Principles: Findings from an International Research Conference.” WIDER Policy Brief 3/22, December 2022.
Opinion pieces and blogs
Gisselquist, R.M., P. Justino, and A. Vaccaro. 2023. “Why the Aid Effectiveness Principles Are Important for Development.” The Loop: ECPR’s Political Science Blog, 19 July 2023. (Republished on WIDERAngle, July 2023).
Gisselquist, R.M., and A. Vaccaro. 2021. “Why Countries Best Placed to Handle the Pandemic Appear to Have Fared the Worst.” The Conversation UK, 2 June 2021. (Republished on WIDERAngle, June 2021).
Gisselquist, R.M., and A. Vaccaro. 2020. “Headline data suggests low-income states are coping better with the pandemic than high-income states. But is this true?” The Loop: ECPR’s Political Science Blog, 16 November 2020. (Republished on WIDERAngle, November 2020).
RESEARCH
Work in progress
Political Causes and Consequences of Different COVID-19 Government Responses (with Thomas Hale and Anna Petherick)
Countries around the world reacted in different ways to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some adopted stringent and prolonged lockdowns, whereas others took a more lenient approach. 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 to shed light on the key social and political factors that contributed to this variation as well as the consequences of different strategies in a broad comparative perspective.
State Capacity, Democracy, and Development
A flourishing body of research has examined the connections between state capacity, democracy, and development outcomes. Scholars have many state capacity measures to choose from but most of them have shortcomings in terms of validity and analytical usefulness. Effectively testing theories on the topic requires better measures of state capacity. This project develops new cross-country measures of state capacity and uses this new data to investigate the links between state capacity, democracy, and development.
Statebuilding in Fragile Countries (with Rachel M. Gisselquist)
Supporting effective institutions is a key objective of the international development community. However, many statebuilding efforts have fallen short of expectations. Why? Our project tries to address this question by focusing on the legacy of past state institutions and their effect on current fragility in countries around the world.
Conceptual Questions on Democracy (with Maya Tudor)
Democracy is a core concept in political science but there continues to be little consensus on how exactly it should be defined. For some democracy is mainly about elections, for others it includes a more encompassing set of characteristics like human rights and social equality. This project seeks to clarify the concept of democracy.
Social Consequences of Contemporary Autocratisation (with Andrea Cassani and Angelo V. Panaro)
Many experts agree that we live in an era of autocratisation. Yet what are the social consequences of this contemporary trend away from democracy? Our project aims to address this question by developing a new index of autocratisation and analysing it in relation to welfare policies and their outcomes in multiple countries.
TEACHING AND MENTORING
Adjunct professor
Theories and Policies of Economic Development, MA in International Development and Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – 2021/2022
Seminar leader
The Politics of Policymaking, MPP, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford – 2024/2025
Teaching assistant
Political Economy, MA in International Development and Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – 2019/2020-2021/2022
Supervision and mentoring
Mentor, Florence School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute (1 graduate student) – 2025/2026
College Advisor, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (5 graduate students) – 2024/2025
College Advisor, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (4 graduate students) – 2023/2024
Supervisor of 2 dissertations, MA in International Development and Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome – 2021/2022
CV
Current academic positions
Max Weber Fellow, European University Institute
Previous academic positions
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Visiting Researcher, World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Insubria
Adjunct Professor in Theories and Policies of Economic Development, Sapienza University of Rome
Research consultancies
World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) – 2020-2025
Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome – 2019, 2021-2023
Education
PhD in Applied Social Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome – 2021
MA in International Development and Cooperation, Sapienza University of Rome, summa cum laude – 2017
BA in Humanities, University of Helsinki – 2012
Awards and honours
Max Weber Fellowship, European University Institute – 2025-2027
Award for Excellence, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford – 2024
Italian Political Science Association’s ‘Carlo Maria Santoro’ prize for the best conference paper – 2023
Doctor Europaeus distinction, Sapienza University of Rome – 2021
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 