Dongil Lee

Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management (Sejong City, South Korea).

I study the political economy of development, focusing on how formal institutions and informal incentives shape political behavior, representation, and state capacity in sub-Saharan Africa. My work has been published or is forthcoming in the Journal of Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, and World Development.

I earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University (NYU) in 2022. Before graduate school, I spent two years in Dagana, Senegal, as a KOICA-affiliated IT teacher (KOICA is South Korea's ODA agency). Since joining KDI School, I have co-organized the KDI School--World Bank Development Impact Conference (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). I also co-founded the Global Strategy & Political Economy Lab in 2024, which has hosted annual workshop since then (2025, 2026).

You can reach me at dlee@kdis.ac.kr.

CV

Please find my CV HERE. You can also find my profiles on ORCID and Google Scholar.

Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Lee, Dongil. "Dynamic Impact of Legislative Gender Quotas on Female Representation in Cabinets." Forthcoming in Journal of Politics.
[Ungated version] · [Online appendix] · [Replication data]
Lee, Dongil. 2025. "Targeting Coethnic Voters, Elites, or Both? Evidence from Aid Allocation in Malawi." World Development, 188, 106907.
[Ungated version] · [Online appendix] · [Replication data]
Lee, Dongil. 2025. "Does Foreign Aid Undermine Political Responsiveness? Evidence from Kenya." Studies in Comparative International Development.
[Ungated version] · [Online appendix] · [Replication data]

Manuscripts Under Review

Lee, Dongil, David Sungho Park, & Inbok Rhee. "Global Climate Action and Local Rights: Survey Experimental Evidence on Public Support for Carbon Offsetting in Liberia." Under Review.
Cha'ngom, Narcisse, Dongil Lee, Eric Mvukiyehe, & Christelle Tchoupé. "Electronic Payroll System and Intra-Civil Service Corruption: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo." Under Review.
Lee, Dongil. "Legislative Gender Quotas, Career Pipelines, and the Competence of Female Ministers." Under Review.
Lee, Dongil. "Democracy and Professional Diversity in Cabinets." Under Review.
Lee, Dongil, Eric Mvukiyehe, Christelle Tchoupé, & Hongshen Zhu. "Selection of Bureaucrats under Weak State Capacity: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo." Under Review.

Working Papers

Kang, Woo Chang, John S. Kuk, Don S. Lee, Dongil Lee, Sunkyoung Park, & Inbok Rhee. "Direct Observation and Electoral Trust: A Natural Experiment in South Korea." (Preparing for submission)
Lee, Dongil, David Sungho Park, & Inbok Rhee. "Former Warlord-Politicians and Support for War Crimes Court: Survey Experimental Evidence from Liberia." (Preparing for submission)
Beiser-McGrath, Janina, & Dongil Lee. "Economic Crises and Political Selection: Evidence from Ministerial Appointments in Africa." (Revised draft in preparation)

Kim, ByungKoo, Changkeun Lee, Dongil Lee, & Hye Young You. "Dictator's Economic Craft: How an Authoritarian Leader Taps Talents from Bureaucrats." (First draft in preparation)
Goto, Jun, & Dongil Lee. "Political Gender Quotas and Pro-Female Judicial Rulings: Evidence from India." (First draft in preparation)

Teaching

PhD courses

Foundations of Public Policy (2022-present)
Mathematics for Economics I (2024-present)

Master's courses

Political Economy of Development (2023-present)
Data-Driven Foreign Aid (2023-2025)
Introduction to Geospatial Analysis (2026-present)

Advising

For students: please email me at di_lee@kdischool.ac.kr to set up an appointment.