I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, where I am part of the Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) program group. My research focuses on the politics of public goods provision in low-income countries, from the perspectives of both governments and citizens. My regional expertise lies primarily in East Africa. I have conducted extensive fieldwork in Tanzania, and have also been involved in research activities in Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa.
I recently launched a 5-year project, "ClimateFiGS: Understanding the Allocation of Climate Finance in the Global South.” The project is funded by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Using Natural Language Processing to Understand How Politics Conditions Foreign Aid Effectiveness
With Jelke Bloem I am using AI-based techniques to investigate the downstream consequences of politicization on the effectiveness of USAID projects.
Budgeting for the Future: Understanding the Allocation of Climate Finance in the Global South (ClimateFiGS)
This project examines the allocation and spending of climate finance, centering the perspectives of governments and citizens in Africa.