Book Project I (Based on Dissertation):
The Political Economy of Public Bureaucracy: The Emergence of Modern Administrative Organizations (Dissertation PDF Download) (Alt. Link)

Recipient of the Honorable Mention for the Ernst B. Haas Dissertation Award
(for the best dissertation in European Politics and Society)

Recipient of the Honorable Mention for the Ronald H. Coase Dissertation Award
(for the best dissertation in Institutional and Organizational Economics)

Abstract: How can we explain the significant variation in the organization and performance of public bureaucracies across countries, across regions, and between the levels of the administrative hierarchy that we observe in the present day? Considering high levels of path dependence in bureaucratic organization, this book project explains divergence in the institutions of public administrations through a set of historical analyses focused on the 19th and early 20th centuries—a time period crucial for the establishment of modern bureaucracies. The first part of the book manuscript deals with the influence of socio-economic groups in countries that enjoyed domestic political autonomy. Three social classes had fundamentally different interests in the organization of the state apparatus, and their relative political influence was a key factor determining its organizational characteristics. The second part of the manuscript deals with the impact of foreign rule on the bureaucratic organization of countries that did not enjoy domestic political autonomy. Specifically, an in-depth case study and empirical analysis focus on within-country regional variation in bureaucratic organization in Poland, which was historically ruled by three empires with vastly different bureaucracies. I develop an account of path dependence and suggest that persisting differences in culture and perceptions of public administration are key drivers of regional divergence. Finally, the another in-depth case study and empirical test focus on variation in bureaucratic organization between levels of the administrative hierarchy and provides in Romania, which was historically partially ruled by the Habsburg Empire and partially autonomous. I develop a theoretical framework of imperial pervasiveness that explains differential effectiveness of external rule along the administrative hierarchy.

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Book Project II:
Theory of Competition: Rivalry and Competition in Human Societies and International Relations

Abstract: Competition is a ubiquitous phenomenon. In societies, people compete for status and wealth. In capitalist economies, firms compete for market shares. In democracies, parties compete for votes. In the international realm, countries compete for foreign direct investment, military power, and prestige. Building upon social psychology, this book explores the deep-rooted psychological mechanisms which explain why people compete with each other. A general theory of rivalry and competition is developed and subsequently applied to politics and economics. A comprehensive study of international history, particularly the European international system and its member states in comparison with other world regions, demonstrates how powerful competition as an organizational principle can be.