My Research

Peer Reviewed Publications (Ordered by Publication Date)

[6] “Connect First, then Suppress: Chinese vs. Western Communication Development Projects and Internet Freedom” (2025) With Yujeong Yang, Lucie Lu, and Xinle Jia in Studies in Comparative International Development.

[5] “Attention Versus Handshakes: Pathways of Influence in China’s Foreign Aid and Loans” (2024) With Lucie Lu in Journal of International Development.

[4] “Elusive Collaboration? The Determinants of Lead Donorship in International Development.” (2024) in The Review of International Organizations.

[3] “How Reducing Documentation Burdens Impacts Equity in Program Access: The Case of Small Business Covid-19 Relief Funding.” (2023) With Elizabeth Bell and Heather Kappes in Public Administration Review.

[2] “Gender in the Pulpit: The Differences in Speaking Style for Men and Women.” (2019) With Ryan Burge in The Journal of Communication and Religion.

[1] “Is Social Media a Digital Pulpit? How Evangelical Leaders Use Twitter to Encourage the Faithful and Publicize Their Work.” (2019) With Ryan Burge in Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture.

Book Chapters (Ordered by Publication Date)

[2] “World Bank.” (2023) With Matthew Winters in Handbook of International Orgnaizations: Theories, Concepts, and Empirical Insights. Eds. Katja Freistein, Julia Leininger, and Silke Weinlich. De Gruyter Oldenbourg.

[1] “Illinois 10th Congressional District: Re-rematch in Chicago Suburbs.” (2018) With Jeffrey Ashley in The Roads to Congress 2016. Eds. Sean D. Foreman and Marcia L. Godwin. Palgrave Macmillan.

Selected Works in Progress (Alphabetical Order)

“Aid, Aggression, and Alignment: A Test of the Two-Good Theory in Equilibrium” [Working Paper]
“Aid for Nonaggression: Donor Security Strategy after the Cold War” [Working Paper]
“An Actuary Walks into the War Room: How a Model from Actuarial Science Can Help Forecast the Deadliness of War” [Working Paper]
“Foreign Aid and Investment Protection.” With Seung-Uk Huh. [Working Paper]

[Note: All working papers are available upon request.]

Future Book Project

In my dissertation, I explore how the pursuit of mixed foreign policy goals drive cooperation problems among Western aid donor governments. This work will become the basis for my first book project, which will center on the uniqueness of the collective action problem at the heart of global development finance. By studying aid allocation through a general equilibrium lens, I am able to explain why certain donor countries come to have outsized responsibility for giving aid to particular countries in the developing world, meanwhile in other developing countries multiple donors are present. I also am able to show why cooperation among donor countries in the allocation of aid remains elusive. I do all this using a mix of game theory, a novel measurement strategy, and machine learning.

Software

I have developed a number of software packages for R. You can learn more about them here.

Blogging

In a bid for public scholarship, I host a Substack called Foreign Figures in which I offer data-driven takes on foreign affairs on a weekly basis. I also occasionally have contributed to Religion in Public, and to Democracy Paradox. I host a blog here on my professional site, too, where I occasionally post about statistics and programming in R.