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

How Budgets Shape Power Sharing in Autocracies

Darin Christensen, Michael Gibilisco

Do Commodity Price Shocks Cause Armed Conflict? A Meta-Analysis of Natural Experiments

Darin Christensen, Graeme Blair, Aaron Rudkin

Building Resilient Health Systems: Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone and the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

Darin Christensen, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, Maarten Voors

The Politics of Property Taxation: Fiscal Infrastructure and Electoral Incentives in Brazil

Darin Christensen, Francisco Garfias

How Does Armed Conflict Shape Investment? Evidence from the Mining Sector

Darin Christensen, Graeme Blair, Valerie Wirtschafter

Legibility and External Investment: An Institutional Natural Experiment in Liberia

Darin Christensen, Alexandra Hartman, Cyrus Samii

Articles

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Books

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

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

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:

PA 30: Comparative Analysis of Wealth, Policy, and Power

UCLA Master’s of Public Policy:

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

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