Ongoing

Warring Leviathans: Conflict Among Hierarchies and the Evolution of Human Prosociality

Using a computational model, this project argues that intergroup conflict makes the creation of coercive centralized hierarchy more likely by increasing within-group cooperation and that institutions which were built up during conflict can be ex-post efficient even in times of peace and therefore can outlast the conflicts which provided their initial impetus.

The Power to Hurt, to be Hurt, and Public Support for War

This project introduces a new survey instrument to investigate the relation between the power to hurt (i.e. enemy casualties) and to be hurt (i.e. friendly casualties) and their combined impact on the willingness to support the use of military force.

Survey Experiments as Supervised Learning

This project draws on psychometrics and machine learning techniques to propose a non-parametric Bayesian method to optimize complex multidimensional experimental estimation.

Refining known unknowns? Modeling and Measuring Uncertainty

This project leverages a partial observability model of conflict initiation to estimate systemic uncertainty, where values of the unobserved variables are inferred from the relationship of observed variables to outcomes.

Public Opinion, Democratic Institutions, and Leader Credibility

This paper researches how democratic backsliding impact the ability of credibility of leaders abroad by distinguishing between the effects of domestic polarization and of weakening democratic institutions.

Likelihood-free Inference in Strategic Contexts

Building upon recent innovations in Computational Science, this projects proposes a new framework for inference in international relations where strategic considerations are rampant.

Disordered system: Variation in material versus relational power and interstate conflict

This paper introduces a novel network measure to assess how variations in state strength and relational power affect the rate of international conflict and finds that greater differences in the military capabilities and relational power of states is associated with higher rates of conflict.

An Adaptive Design for the Efficient Estimation of Temporal Preferences

This project draws on psychometrics and machine learning techniques to propose a non-parametric Bayesian method to optimize complex multidimensional experimental estimation.

Alliance Management in the Face of Public Opinion: Experimental Evidence from the United States, Japan, and South Korea

Using a survey experiment concurrently fielded in Korea, Japan, and the U.S., this project investigates what states are looking for in an ally.

A Direct Method for the Estimation of Temporal Preferences

This projects introduces a new method to estimate the temporal preferences of individuals regarding collective outcomes.