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

Ana De La O, Donald Green, Peter John, Darin Christensen, 21 others. Fiscal Contracts?: A Six-country Randomized Experiment on Transaction Costs, Public Services, and Taxation in Developing Countries. Working Paper, 2020.

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

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Articles

Tara Slough, Daniel Rubenson, Ro'ee Levy, Darin Christensen, 15 others. Adoption of Community Monitoring Improves Common Pool Resource Management Across Contexts. Accepted, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021.

Darin Christensen, Alexandra Hartman, Cyrus Samii. Citizen Monitoring Promotes Informed and Inclusive Forest Governance in Liberia. Accepted, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021.

Darin Christensen, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors. Building Resilient Health Systems: Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone and the 2014 Ebola Outbreak. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2021.

PDF Dataset Policy Brief

Darin Christensen, Graeme Blair, Aaron Rudkin. Do Commodity Price Shocks Cause Armed Conflict? A Meta-Analysis of Natural Experiments. American Political Science Review, 2021.

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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. Accepted, Journal of Politics, 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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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

Evaluating Due Diligence Programs for Conflict Minerals

A Matched Analysis of 3T Mines in Eastern DRC
Mar 25, 2021
Evaluating Due Diligence Programs for Conflict Minerals

Tracking Concessions in Sierra Leone

Nationwide census to catalog mining and agricultural concessions.
Darin Christensen, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors
Jan 18, 2019
Tracking Concessions in Sierra Leone
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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

Migration in West and Central Africa

Research agenda to understand the determinants and benefits of migration.
Migration in West and Central Africa

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

Politics of Order and Development (POD) Lab (Co-convener)

UCLA Public Affairs Major:

UCLA Master’s of Public Policy:

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