Bio

Welcome! I am a PhD student in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University.

I study the political economy of foreign aid with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Methodologically, I combine formal models with empirical analyses using original micro-level data about bureaucrats in aid organizations and local politicians in recipient governments.

My topics of interest include foreign aid, aid effectiveness, political accountability, political elites, bureaucrats, corruption, public service delivery, and international organizations.

My C.V. is available here. I can be reached by email: dongil.lee@nyu.edu


Research

Working Paper

  1. "Global Aid and Local Politician Effort: Evidence from Kenya" (2022)

  2. "Buying Political Elites with Aid: Evidence from Malawi" (2022)


Work in Progress

  1. "Political Capture of Aid and Career Promotion: Evidence from the World Bank" with Maria Canudo (World Bank) and Vincenzo Di Maro (World Bank)

  2. "Why do Aid Agencies Drop Development Projects?: Evidence from the World Bank" with Maria Canudo (World Bank), Diana Goldemberg (World Bank), and Vincenzo Di Maro (World Bank)

  3. "Empowering the People: How to Promote Political Representation for the Poor?" with Antonella Bandiera (ITAM), Cyrus Samii (NYU), and Francis Touloa Meda (NYU)

  4. "Divergence in Policy Priority between the Affluent and the Poor" with Antonella Bandiera (ITAM) and Cyrus Samii (NYU)

  5. "Bureaucrats in Fragile States: Evidence from the DRC" with Eric Mvukiyehe (Duke), Guo Xu (UC Berkeley), Christelle Tchoupé (World Bank), and Hongshen Zhu (Duke)

  6. "Patronage or Competence?: Evidence from Ministerial Appointments in Africa"


Shelved Project

  1. "The Cultural Impact of Foreign Aid: Evidence from the Peace Corps Senegal"

  2. "Role Model and Gender Equality: Evidence from the Peace Corps Senegal"

Teaching