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Axel Dreher

@adreher.bsky.social

3.2K followers 770 following 19 posts

Professor of International and Development Politics, Editor of RIO. #china, #aid, www.axel-dreher.de.

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Axel Dreher is a German economist.

Source: Wikipedia

Economics 43%

Political science 24%

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Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · Feb 24

The RIO allows manuscripts rejected at APSR, IO, ISQ to be transferred to the RIO (and v.v.). Interested in discussing the draft of RIO’s transfer policy? Share your thoughts and suggstions for improvement: shorturl.at/9jbQb,
@the-peio.bsky.social, @iojournal.bsky.social, @apsrjournal.bsky.social

www.wp.peio.me

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Lee Crawfurd @leecrawfurd.bsky.social · 11d

Another call for better aid reporting. Axel Dreher says we should distinguish & report separately on:

1. Humanitarian aid
2. Global public goods
3. Development aid

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Andrea Presbitero

Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · 25d

Deadline for PEIO 2026: September 30.

Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · Feb 5

Join us for the Political Economy of International Organization Conference (@the-peio.bsky.social) at IE University in Segovia, Spain, January 29-31, 2026. Submission is now open at peio.me. Thanks to Nikitas Konstantinidis for hosting!

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Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · 26d

Some of my thoughts on how to reform foreign aid in China Daily: global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202509/13/... (uncensored version here: axel-dreher.de/wp-content/u...)

Aid program must return to its roots

Foreign aid isn't dying; it's in deep trouble. Just look at Seville, where the United States — the world's largest development donor not long ago — didn't even bother to send a delegation to the globa...

global.chinadaily.com.cn

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Reposted by Lars P. Feld

Reposted by Axel Dreher

VoxEU @ CEPR @voxeu.org · Sep 8

@adreher.bsky.social, Jingke Pan, & @cjschneider.bsky.social find that in regions receiving foreign aid, targeted killings of politicians are 15-20% higher in the years with aid inflows. Direct cash transfers should be considered in fragile contexts.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

Map of the world by ADM1 regions showing the number of years with targeted political violence in each region, 1990-2020.

Western donors drastically cut foreign aid in 2025, reigniting the familiar debate over whether aid works. This column examines how aid affects targeted political violence, looking at assassinations and attacks against politicians in 121 countries between 1990 and 2020. In regions receiving aid, targeted killings of politicians are 15%-20% higher in the years with aid inflows, especially where institutions are weak and elections are upcoming. Donors should avoid large transfers immediately before elections, consider direct cash transfers in fragile contexts, and incorporate political dynamics in risk assessments.

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Ben Christian @benchristian.bsky.social · Aug 20

UN funding is under pressure. In a new article @the-peio.bsky.social, my colleagues Alex Tokhi and Lisbeth Zimmermann (@goetheuni.bsky.social) show that the participation of far-right parties in government has significant negative effects on the funding of IOs.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The far right and international organizations: How the far right in government affects foreign aid funding - The Review of International Organizations

The far right is on the rise, winning elections, entering governments globally, and politicizing international cooperation. Existing research finds only very limited effects of far-right governments on international organizations (IOs), however.. We argue that the far right in government undermines IOs by systematically reducing their earmarked funding, as it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs. Using new data on earmarked funding to IOs from 37 OECD donor states between 1990 and 2020, we examine how far-right participation in government affects IO funding. Expanding the data on far-right parties beyond Western Europe, we employ three-way fixed effects and dynamic balancing weights to address both static and dynamic confounding with marginal structural models. Our results show that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, without affecting bilateral aid commitments. This suggests that the far right not only politicizes IOs but also attempts to directly undermine their operation when IOs cannot be aligned with their anti-migration agenda.

link.springer.com

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Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · Sep 10

Interested in geocoded aid? Submit a one-page proposal for a paper to be presented at the workshop “Analyzing Global Development with the Geocoded Official Development Assistance Dataset (GODAD),” University of Göttingen, Germany, in March 13-14. Deadline Sep 30, CfP at godad.me

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · Jun 24

Join us for the Political Economy of International Organization (PEIO) Conference at Harvard University, January 23-25, 2025. Submission is now open at peio.me. Thanks to
Stephen Chaudoin, Christina Davis, and Christoph Mikulaschek for hosting!

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Axel Dreher @adreher.bsky.social · Mar 4

How can we measure informal influence of leaders’ unelected spouses?

We use our Geocoded ODA Data (GODAD) to test whether sub-national regions where leaders’ spouses are born receive more aid. They do - from European donors, the US, China! Paper and data: godad.me

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

CESifo @cesifo.org · Jul 15

New Paper Alert!📢
"Foreign Aid and Targeted Political Violence" by @adreher.bsky.social‬ Jingke Pan @cjschneider.bsky.social

To understand how foreign aid can unintentionally fuel political violence in fragile democracies, read the full study here:
🔗 www.ifo.de/en/cesifo/pu...

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Ricky Clark @rickyclark.bsky.social · Jul 11

Many thanks to Michael Breen @dublincityuni.bsky.social for this thoughtful review of my book, Cooperative Complexity: The Next Level of Global Economic Governance, in The Review of International Organizations @the-peio.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Richard Clark. 2025. Cooperative Complexity: The Next Level of Global Economic Governance. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) - The Review of International Organizations

The Review of International Organizations -

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Axel Dreher, Hanna Bäck

Marc Debus @marcdebus.bsky.social · Jul 8

Looking forward to present new research (with @hannaeback.bsky.social and @michaelimre.bsky.social) on the relationship between ideological polarization, coalition governance and the number of party members in the German states at the Sogang Conference on Party Activism and Democracy next week 😊

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Reposted by Simon Hix, Olga Onuch, Axel Dreher , and 34 more Simon Hix, Olga Onuch, Axel Dreher, Sara B. Hobolt, Fabrizio Gilardi, Ruth Dassonneville, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Stefan Müller, Stefanie Walter, Anne Rasmussen, Nils B. Weidmann, Alexander Wuttke, Justin H. Kirkland, Colombia, Andreas Dür, Mark Hallerberg, Simon Weschle, Miriam A. Golden, Ingo Rohlfing, Lisa Dellmuth, Markus Wagner, Thomas M. Meyer, Sven‐Oliver Proksch, Thomas Hegghammer, Christian Flachsland, Toni Rodón, Damian Trilling, Christian Rauh, Heike Klüver, Tom Louwerse, Noam Lupu, Pepper D. Culpepper, Lynette H. Ong, Jani Erola, Roman Senninger, Kathrin Ackermann, Anita Gohdes

EPSS @epssnet.bsky.social · Jun 26

🚨 Big News for European Political Science 🚨

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the European Political Science Society (EPSS): a new, member-led, not-for-profit association built to support our scholarly community.

🔗 epssnet.org

Here’s a thread with everything you need to know.

🧵

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Reposted by Axel Dreher, Ugo Panizza

Reposted by Axel Dreher

Christina Cottiero @ccottiero.bsky.social · Jun 25

📌The special issue "Illiberal Regimes and International Organizations" is now published as Vol. 20 Issue 2 in RIO! @the-peio.bsky.social
link.springer.com/journal/1155...
Summary thread with each piece-- 🧵

The Review of International Organizations

The Review of International Organizations publishes original scientific contributions in the entire field of international political economy, with a focus on ...

link.springer.com

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3D Seminar @3dseminar.bsky.social · May 13

On June 26, the 3D Seminar will continue with Angelika Budjan (University of Stuttgart) and Md Abu Bakar Siddiq (Tetra Tech), who will discuss the implications of sudden cuts in international aid for development cooperation and affected communities.

Register at:
listserv.gwdg.de/mailman/list...

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Reposted by Axel Dreher, Ugo Panizza, Jörg Peters , and 3 more Axel Dreher, Ugo Panizza, Jörg Peters, Jason Reifler, David A. Jaeger, Kai Gehring

Prof. Kai Gehring @kaigehring.bsky.social · Jun 1

🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨 2 exciting PreDoc positions in my team at the University of Bern, starting late summer/early fall! Collaborate on cutting-edge research in Political Economy, Development &Behavioral Economics, using experimental and quasi-experimental methods.

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Reposted by Axel Dreher

Reposted by Axel Dreher, Nathan Nunn

Andreas Fuchs @fuchsa.bsky.social · Apr 30

Study #Development #Economics in #Göttingen! We accept applications for our Master of students with either citizenship or Bachelor from EU/EEA countries until May 15. Info: uni-goettingen.de/en/203661.html. @unigoettingen.bsky.social @agrarunigoe.bsky.social igoe.bsky.social @3dseminar.bsky.social

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Michael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · Mar 29

I received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity.

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Reposted by Axel Dreher, Manuela Moschella

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · Mar 29

Salute to the Canadians for putting these ads up in downtown DC, they’re right and they should say it more 🫡

A picture of a bus ad that says “TARIFFS ARE A TAX ON HARDWORKING AMERICANS”

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