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Yale Political and Economic Development Conference

Call for papers: Yale Political and Economic Development Conference

Submission deadline extended to February 25, 2019

Across the world, rapid economic growth is transforming developing countries. As these societies undergo a process of structural transformation from being predominantly agrarian and rural to becoming urban, industrial, and service based, millions of people are migrating from rural to urban areas, and old social and political orders are being reshaped. What are the political drivers and implications of these economic changes and of mass rural-to-urban migration? How has this transformation changed the composition and ideology of political elites and their redistributive and clientelistic political strategies?

Answering these broad questions requires understanding how the political economy of developing countries has evolved in response to structural transformation. Governments have adapted in surprising ways: incorporating formerly disenfranchised groups into the political discourse and government; providing welfare programs to rural and urban groups; and pioneering political strategies to take advantage of the realignment of people and economic production.

The Yale Political and Economic Development Conference (YPED) invites early career scholars, from advanced graduate students to pre-tenure faculty, to examine how political economy has developed and changed in response to structural transformation. We especially encourage papers that address topics related to migration, political elites, and clientelism and redistribution through non-experimental methods, from natural experiments to other types of observational studies.

This one-day conference will contribute new insights to major and underexplored areas of political economy. We are only accepting completed papers (full drafts are acceptable but incomplete drafts and research designs are not). Each paper will be assigned a faculty discussant.

YPED will provide each participant with up to $500 in travel and accommodation support.

Please submit your proposal to yped.conference@gmail.com by February 25, 2019. Please include your abstract and authors in the body of the email. Notifications will be sent out by February 28. The conference will take place on May 10, 2019. We look forward to your proposal!

Organizers: Zack Barnett-Howell, Gautam Nair, and Joan Ricart-Huguet.

Faculty discussants: Kate Baldwin, Olle Folke, Johanna Rickne, Frances McCall Rosenbluth, Emily Sellars, and Milan Svolik

YPED is supported by The MacMillan Center and by the Department of Political Science at Yale University