About Me

I am a Reader (associate professor) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and received my PhD from the European University Institute. Before moving to Glasgow, I worked at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Warwick and Duke University. My research explores the process of policy-making in democracies with a focus on economic and labour market policies. In my book "Ideologues, Partisans and Loyalists" (Oxford University Press 2016), I argue that politicians' own ideology and political clout matter for policy. In my current project, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and in collaboration with Marburg University in Germany, we explore the role of politicians' personal characteristics, interests and wealth on income inequality.  In other current projects I investigate the relationship between political and economic inequality, the role of legislative institutions on politicians' expertise, the transformation of social democratic parties from within, the role of the organisation of the executive on energy policy, the long-term political effects of deindustrialisation and decarbonisation on local communities in the UK and Germany.