Edmund Malesky
emalesky@ucsd.edu
Phone: (858) 534-4149
Fax: (858) 534-3939
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0519
Office: #1325
Education
Ph.D., Duke University, 2004 (political science)
M.A., Duke University, 2001(political science)
B.S.F.S., Georgetown University, 1996 (developmental economics, summa cum laude)
Programs and Centers
Southeast Asia Regional Concentration
Biography
Before joining IR/PS in 2005, Malesky was an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Weatherhead Center of International Affairs. His doctoral thesis discusses the politics of economic reform in Vietnam demonstrating how a coalition of provincial officials and foreign investors induced far-reaching economic reforms by the Vietnamese central government. The dissertation won the Gabriel Almond award of the American Political Science Association, honoring the best thesis in the field of comparative politics. In addition to his academic research, he has been a consultant for the Asia Foundation, USAID, World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program.
Research Interests and Expertise
Malesky's research focuses on comparative politics and political economy. His current projects include the construction of a provincial economic governance index to rank Vietnam's 64 provinces on transparency, transaction costs, attitude toward private sector reform, and innovative approaches to economic development. Malesky has also devoted considerable time to understanding the impact of foreign direct investment on domestic government institutions and political cleavages. Specific topics include:• Political development in Vietnam and China
• Comparative political economy in Southeast Asia
• Economic transitions in developing economies, especially in Southeast Asia
Publications of Note
Malesky is the lead researcher for US-AID’s Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and the World Bank/The Asia Foundation Cambodian Business Environment Scorecard (CPBES), ranking provinces by their economic governance and investment environment for private firms. He has published several papers on economic transition in top political science and economic journals, including: The Journal of Politics, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, and Journal of East Asian Studies. His most well known work is, “Straight Ahead on Red: How Foreign Direct Investment Empowers Subnational Leaders” (Journal of Politics), “Gerrymandering Vietnam Style: Escaping the Partial Reform Equilibrium in a Non-Democratic Regime” (Journal of Politics), “Predictable Corruption and Firm Investment in Cambodia” (Quarterly Journal of Political Science), and “Accountability and Inequality in Single Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China” (Harvard Business School Working Paper), which was profiled in The Economist.Perspectives
Malesky can comment on political development in Vietnam and China, as well as comparative political economy in Southeast Asia. He also can provide insight into the choices underlying the decisions of foreign investors and thereby the globalization debate, especially in regard to the discussion of "sweatshops" in developing countries.
Expertise
Malesky's research focuses on the political economy of economic transition. His dissertation examined the impact of foreign direct investment on local-central relations in transition states, with a special concentration on Vietnam. He is particularly interested in the notion of how de facto decentralization results from increased provincial bargaining power before formal decentralization by national governments. Malesky has also devoted considerable time to understanding the impact of foreign direct investment on domestic government institutions and political cleavages.
Research Interests
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Comparative politics
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Political economy
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Economic transitions in developing economies, especially in Southeast Asia.
Publications of Note
Articles in Refereed Journals
Malesky, Edmund and Paul Schuler. 2010. “Nodding or Needling: Analyzing Delegate Responsiveness in an Authoritarian Parliament.” American Political Science Review 104.3 (August): 1-21.
Jensen, Nathan and Edmund Malesky. 2010. “FDI Incentives Pay – Politically. 2010.” Vale Columbia FDI Perspectives 26 (June).
Gelbach, Scott and Edmund Malesky. FORTHCOMING. “The Contribution of Veto Players to Economic Reform." Journal of Politics.
Malesky, Edmund, Regina Abrami and Yu Zheng. FORTHCOMING. “Institutions and Inequality in Single-Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China.” Comparative Politics.
Malesky, Edmund and Markus Taussig. 2009. “Out of the Gray: The Impact of Provincial Institutions on Business Formalization in Vietnam.” Journal of East Asian Studies 9: 249-290.
Online Appendix.
Malesky, Edmund. 2009. “Foreign Investors: Agents of Economic Transition. An Instrumental Variables Analysis.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 4.1: 59-85.
Online Appendix, Replication Data, and Do Files
Malesky, Edmund. 2009. “Gerrymandering Vietnam Style: Escaping the Partial Reform Equilibrium in a Non-Democratic Regime” Journal of Politics 71.1: 132-159.
Online Appendix
Malesky, Edmund and Krislert Samphantharak. 2008. "Predictable Corruption and Firm Investment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment and Survey of Cambodian Entrepreneurs" Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3.3: 227-267.
Online Appendix, Replication Data, and Do Files
Malesky, Edmund and Paul Schuler. 2008. “Paint-by-Numbers Democracy: The Stakes, Structure, Results, and Implications of the 2007 Vietnamese National Assembly Elections.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies 4.1: 1-48.
Malesky, Edmund and Markus Taussig. 2008. “Where is Credit Due? Legal Institutions, Connections, and the Efficiency of Bank Lending in Vietnam,” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization. Advance Access published on June 20, 2008. doi:10.1093/jleo/ewn011
Online Appendix
Malesky, Edmund. 2008. “Straight Ahead on Red: How Foreign Direct Investment Empowers Subnational Leaders.” Journal of Politics 70.1:97-119.
Online Appendix
Malesky, Edmund. 2004. "Leveled Mountains and Broken Fences: Measuring and Analyzing De Facto Decentralization in Vietnam." European Journal of South East Asian Studies 3.2: 307-337.
Malesky, Edmund. 2004. "Entrepreneurs on the Periphery: A Study of Private Sector Development in Vietnam's Periphery Provinces.” Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) International Finance Corporation Private Sector Discussion Papers 18 (November).
Also see MPDF Business Issues Bulletin discussing the above paper.
Books
Nathan Jensen, Glenn Biglaiser, Quan Li, Edmund Malesky, Pablo Pinto, Santiago Pinto (Co-Authored Book). FORTHCOMING. Politics and Foreign Direct Investment. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
Book Chapters and Newsletters
Malesky, Edmund. 2008. “Battling Onward: The Debate Over Field Research in Developmental Economics and its Implications for Comparative Politics.” Qualitative Methods (Fall).
Abrami, Regina, Edmund Malesky, and Yu Zheng. “Vietnam through Chinese Eyes: Divergent Accountability in Single- Party Regimes.” In Why Communism Didn’t Collapse: Understanding Regime Resilience in China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, and Cuba, edited by Martin Dimitrov. (Currently under review at Cambridge Press.)
Malesky, Edmund. 2008. “Provincial Governance and Foreign Direct Investment in Vietnam.” In Twenty Years of Foreign Investment in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City: Knowledge Publishing House.
Malesky, Edmund. 2008. “The Vietnam War.” In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Second Edition), ed. William Darity. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA: 612-617.
Malesky, Edmund. 2004. “Push, Pull, and Reinforcing: The Channels of FDI Influence on Provincial Governance in Vietnam." in Beyond Hanoi: Local Governance in Vietnam, eds. by Ben Kerkvliet and David Marr. Singapore: Institute for South East Asian Studies and NIAS Press: 285-333.
See Book Review Online
Articles Currently Under Review in Refereed Journals
Cammet, Melani and Edmund Malesky. 2009. “Power-Sharing in Post-Conflict Societies: Implications for Peace and Governance.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 2009.
Jensen, Nathan, Edmund Malesky, Mariana Medina, and Ugur Ozdemir. 2010. “Pass the Bucks. Investment Incentives as Political Credit-Claiming Devices: Evidence from a Survey Experiment.” Presented at the Annual Midwest Political Science Conference, March 2009.
Edmund Malesky and Paul Schuler. 2008. “The Single-Party Dictator’s Dilemma: Information in Elections Without Opposition.” Presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Political Science Association, Boston MA.
Edmund Malesky and Markus Tausig. 2010. “Institutions and Firm Strategy at the Bottom of the Pyramid: The Case of Business Formalization in Vietnam.”
Provincial Economic Governance Indices
Malesky, Edmund. “The Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index: Measuring Economic Governance for Private Sector Development.” US AID’s Vietnam Competitiveness Inititative and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Hanoi.
2008 Final Report, Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Policy Paper #13
2007 Final Report, Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Policy Paper #12
2006 Final Report, Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Policy Paper #11
2005 Final Report, Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Policy Paper #4
Malesky, Edmund. “The Provincial Business Environment Scorecard in Cambodia: A Measure of Economic Governance and Regulatory Policy.” Prepared for AusAid, The Asia Foundation and Mekong Private Sector Development Facility of the World Bank Group.
2009 Final Report (Not yet available)
2006 Final Report
Also see MPDF Business Issues Bulletin discussing the paper.
Malesky, Edmund. 2008. “A Peek under the Engine Hood: The Methodology of The Asia Foundation’s Economic Governance Indices.” San Francisco: The Asia Foundation.
Weeke, Helle, Steve Parker, and Edmund Malesky. 2009. “The Dynamics of Vietnam’s Business Environment: Complying with Obligations Abroad and Competing at Home.” Developing Alternatives 12.1: 1-8.
Ray, David, Linda Nemec, and Edmund Malesky. 2006. “Paths to Regulatory Reform: Moldova, Ukraine, and Vietnam,” Developing Alternatives 11.1: 32-45.
Malesky, Edmund and Helle Weeke. 2007. “Implications of the Provincial Competitiveness Survey for National Policy,”. Vietnam Business Forum (Hanoi: May).
Malesky, Edmund and Dau Anh Tuan. 2006. “Ðiều quan trọng hon cả thứ hạng [Important Issues in the Ranking],” (with Dau Anh Tuan). Thời báo Kinh tế Sài Gòn [Saigon Economic Times] 23 (807, June 1). http://www.saigontimes.com.vn
Malesky, Edmund. 2005. “Provincial Economic Governance, Vol. 1, Key Determinants,” (with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Hanoi, Vietnam: The Asia Foundation.
Malesky, Edmund and Dau Anh Tuan. 2006. “Provincial Economic Governance, Vol. 2. Best Practices,” (with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Hanoi, Vietnam: The Asia Foundation.
Malesky, Edmund. 2002. "Study of Foreign Direct Investment Environment in Ha Tinh Province, North-Central Vietnam." Prepared for Vietnamese-German Provincial Development Planning Project-Ha Tinh. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Gmbh, (Eshborn).
Other Working Papers
Malesky, Edmund, Paul Schuler, and Anh Tran. 2010. "The Adverse Effects of Sunshine: A Field Experiment Testing the Impact of Transparency on Delegate Performance in an Authoritarian Assembly." APSA 2010 Annual Meeting Paper.
Malesky, Edmund and Paul Schuler. 2009. "Measuring Accountability in Authoritarian Legislatures: The Representativeness of Vietnamese National Assembly Delegates."
Malesky, Edmund, Vu Thanh Hung, Vu Thi Dieu Anh, and Nancy K. Napier. 1998. “The Model and the Reality: Assessment of Vietnamese SOE Reform - Implementation at the Firm -Level.” The William Davidson Institute Working Paper Series 154, University of Michigan, July.
Malesky, Edmund. 2003. “Making Better Use of Business Survey Data: Thoughts on overcoming anchoring and nested data problems in interpreting business survey results.” Presented at Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA, August, 2003.
Chiozza, Giacomo and Edmund Malesky. 2002. “International Conflict and Endogenously Timed Elections.” Presented at Annual Meeting of American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, August 28.
Kitschelt, Herbert and Edmund Malesky. 2000. “Consitutional Design and Postcommunist Economic Reform,” (Herbert Kitschelt), Presented at Annual Meeting of Midwest Political Science Conference in Chicago, Illinois, April 28.
