Darin Christensen

Darin Christensen

Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Political Science

UCLA, Luskin School of Public Affairs

I study the political economy of conflict and development, focusing on institutions and policies that promote investment and mitigate violence in developing countries. I collaborate on projects with government agencies and international organizations.

Affiliations

Education

  • PhD in Political Science, 2016

    Stanford University

  • MA in Economics, 2016

    Stanford University

  • BA in Political Science, 2008

    Duke University

Working Papers

Darin Christensen, Michael Gibilisco. How Budgets Shape Power Sharing in Autocracies. Working Paper, 2020.

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Darin Christensen, Alexandra Hartman, Cyrus Samii. Citizen Monitoring Promotes Informed and Inclusive Governance of Community Forests in Liberia. Revision Requested, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020.

Articles

Darin Christensen, Alexandra Hartman, Cyrus Samii. Legibility and External Investment: An Institutional Natural Experiment in Liberia. Accepted, International Organization, 2020.

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Darin Christensen, Graeme Blair, Valerie Wirtschafter. How Does Armed Conflict Shape Investment? Evidence from the Mining Sector. Conditionally Accepted, Journal of Politics, 2020.

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Darin Christensen, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors. Building Resilient Health Systems: Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone and the 2014 Ebola Outbreak. Accepted, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020.

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Darin Christensen, Graeme Blair, Aaron Rudkin. Do Commodity Price Shocks Cause Armed Conflict? A Meta-Analysis of Natural Experiments. Accepted, American Political Science Review, 2020.

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Darin Christensen, Francisco Garfias. The Politics of Property Taxation: Fiscal Infrastructure and Electoral Incentives in Brazil. Accepted, Journal of Politics, 2020.

PDF SI

Darin Christensen, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors. Community-based Crisis Response: Evidence from Sierra Leone's Ebola Outbreak. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2020.

PDF SI

Darin Christensen. Concession Stands: How Mining Investments Incite Protest in Africa. International Organization, 2019.

PDF Dataset

Darin Christensen, Mai Nguyen, Renard Sexton. Strategic Violence during Democratization: Evidence from Myanmar. World Politics, 2019.

PDF Dataset SI

Darin Christensen, Francisco Garfias. Can You Hear Me Now? How Communication Technology Affects Protest and Repression. Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2018.

PDF Dataset SI

Darin Christensen. The Geography of Repression in Africa. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2018.

PDF Dataset SI

Darin Christensen, Simon Ejdemyr. Do Elections Improve Constituency Responsiveness? Evidence from U.S. Cities. Political Science Research and Methods, 2016.

PDF Dataset SI

Darin Christensen, David Hausman. Measuring the Economic Effect of Alien Tort Statute Liability. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 2016.

PDF Dataset

Darin Christensen, Jeremy Weinstein. Defunding Dissent: Restrictions on Aid to NGOs. Journal of Democracy, 2013.

PDF Dataset

Darin Christensen, Erik Wibbels. Labor Standards, Labor Endowments, and the Evolution of Inequality. International Studies Quarterly, 2013.

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Books

Darin Christensen, David D Laitin. African States Since Independence: Order, Development & Democracy. Yale University Press, 2019.

Project

Resources

Tracking Concessions in Sierra Leone

Nationwide census to catalog mining and agricultural concessions.
Darin Christensen, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors
Jan 18, 2019

Correction to Conley Standard Errors

Updated and corrected code for Conley standard errors.
Darin Christensen, Thiemo Fetzer
Aug 21, 2017
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Ongoing Projects

Project on Resources and Governance

Research initiative that applies social science insights to natural resource governance.
Project on Resources and Governance

Managing Forest Resources in Liberia

RCT to enable citizens’ monitoring and negotiations around communal forests.
Managing Forest Resources in Liberia

Enabling Local Fiscal Capacity in Colombia

RCT to facilitate the formalization of small businesses.
Enabling Local Fiscal Capacity in Colombia

Teaching

UCLA Public Affairs Major:

UCLA Master’s of Public Policy:

Improving Designs in the Social Sciences (IDSS), 2016-2018 (Co-convener)

Politics, Order & Development (POD) Lab (Co-convener)

Contact