CV

Click here to download my CV as PDF; excerpts below.

Academic Positions

Education 

  • PhD (with distinction), Political Science, Yale University, 2017
  • MA and MPhil, Political Science, Yale University, 2014
  • MIA, International Affairs, Columbia University, 2008
  • BA equivalent, Sociology, Economics, Political Science, University of Munich (LMU), 2005

Research

Publications

  • 2022. Raffler, Pia. “Does Political Oversight of the Bureaucracy Increase Accountability? Field Experimental Evidence from an Electoral Autocracy.”  American Political Science Review, 116(4): 1443-1459
    • APSA Best Fieldwork Award, Comparative Decentralization Section, 2016
    • APSA Best Graduate Student Paper in African Affairs, Honorable Mention, 2016
  • 2021. Martin, Lucy and Pia Raffler. “Fault Lines: The Effects of Bureaucratic Power on Electoral Accountability.” American Journal of Political Science, 65(1): 210-224.
  • 2021. Platas, Melina and Pia Raffler. “Closing the Gap: Information and Mass Support in a Dominant Party Regime.” The Journal of Politics, 83(4): 1619-1634.
  • 2019. Platas, Melina and Pia Raffler. “Private vs. Public Information and Voting Behavior. A Field Experiment in Ugandan MP Elections.” In: Information and Accountability: A New Method for Cumulative Learning. Edited by Thad Dunning et al. Cambridge University Press.
  • 2019. Baldwin, Kate and Pia Raffler. “Traditional Leaders, Service Delivery, and Electoral Accountability. In: Decentralized Governance and Accountability. Edited by Jonathan Rodden and Erik Wibbels. Cambridge University Press.
  • 2019. Voter information campaigns and political accountability: Cumulative findings from a pre-registered meta-analysis of coordinated trials, with Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan Hyde, Craig McIntosh, Gareth Nellis, Claire Adida, Eric Arias, Clara Bicalho, Taylor C. Boas, Mark T. Buntaine, Simon Chauchard, Anirvan Chowdhury, Jessica Gottlieb, F. Daniel Hidalgo, Marcus Holmlund, Ryan Jablonski, Eric Kramon, Horacio Larreguy, Malte Lierl, John Marshall, Gwyneth McClendon, Marcus A. Melo, Daniel L. Nielson, Paula M. Pickering, Melina R. Platas, Pablo Querubín, and Neelanjan Sircar. Science Advances, 5(7), p.eaaw2612. 
  • 2019. Fischer, Greg, Dean Karlan, Margaret McConnell and Pia Raffler. “Short-term Subsidies and Seller Type: A Health Products Experiment in Uganda” Journal of Development Economics. 

Working Papers and Papers under Review

  • Raffler, Pia, Daniel Posner, and Doug Parkerson. “The Weakness of Bottom-Up Accountability: Experimental Evidence from the Ugandan Health Sector” (under review)
    • APSA Best Paper Award, Experimental Research Section, 2019
  • Fujiwara, Thomas, Hanno Hilbig, and Pia Raffler. “Gender Discrimination in German Parliamentary Elections”
  • Raffler, Pia. “News, Accountability, and Electoral Rules: The Impact of Media Markets on Local Accountability under Majoritarian and PR Rules in Germany”
  • Bowles, Jeremy, John Marshall, and Pia Raffler. “Access to Social Media and Support for Dominant Incumbentd: Natural and Field experimental evidence from Uganda”

Works in Progress

  • Platas, Melina and Pia Raffler. “Voting With the Polls? A Bandwagon Field Experiment in Uganda”
  • Bowles, Jeremy, Horacio Larreguy, and Pia Raffler. “Does Debate Participation Matter?”
  • Little, Andrew, Melina Platas Izama, and Pia Raffler. “Limits on Learning: Selective Incorporation and Retention of Political Information”
  • Fiala, Nathan and Pia Raffler. “Information and Collective Action. A Field Experiment on Audits and Social Accountability in Uganda”
  • Karlan, Dean, Margaret McConnell and Pia Raffler. “Community-based Data Collection”

Publications in Development Economics

  • 2013. Jamison, Julian, Dean Karlan and Pia Raffler. “Mixed Method Evaluation of a Passive mHealth Sexual Information Texting Service in Uganda”. Information Technology & International Development 9(3)

Policy Papers and Reports

  • Baldwin, Kate and Pia Raffler. 2016. “Traditional Leaders, Service Delivery and Electoral Accountability”. Decentralization. Edited by Jonathan Rodden and Erik Wibbels. USAID.
  • Dunning, Thad, Daniel N. Posner and Pia Raffler. 2013. “Political Knowledge and Political Participation. Improving USAID Program Design and Evaluation”
  • Martin, Lucy and Pia Raffler. 2013. “Local Governance in Uganda”

Awards and Fellowships

  • Award for Best Experimental Paper, American Political Science Association, 2019
  • Award for Best Dissertation in Experimental Research, American Political Science Association, 2018
  • Best Fieldwork Award, Comparative Democratization Section, American Political Science Association, 2016
  • Best Graduate Student Paper in African Affairs, Honorable Mention, African Politics Conference Group, American Political Science Association, 2016
  • Darius Thompson Waldhams Fellowship, Yale University, 2015-2016
  • Pierre B.A. Keller Fellowship, Yale University, 2014-2015
  • M. Cox Fellowship, Yale University, 2013-2014
  • Teaching Fellowship, Economic Analysis, Columbia University, 2007
  • Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service for Academic Excellence, 2005-2006
  • Scholarship for Academic Success, E-fellows, 2002 – 2008
  • Nominated for German National Merit Foundation, 2001, 2004

Grants

  • Research Grant, Competitive Dean’s Fund, Harvard
  • Research Grant, International Republican Institute/USAID, 2016, joint with Melina Platas
  • Research Grant, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2015, joint with Melina Platas
  • Research Grant, Hewlett Foundation, 2015
  • Research Grant, EGAP, 2014, joint with Melina Platas
  • Research Grant, The International Growth Centre, 2014
  • Research Grant, Hewlett Foundation, 2014
  • Research Grant, Anonymous Donor, 2013
  • Research Fellowship, Georg W. Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy, 2013
  • Research Grant, 2012, joint with Chris Blattman, Dean Karlan and Lucy Martin
  • Research Grant, 2010, joint with Dean Karlan and Margaret McConnell

Affiliations

Invited Presentations 

  • Political Economy Seminar, Oxford University, 2020
  • Political Economy Seminar, Columbia University, 2019
  • Comparative Politics Seminar, Stanford University, 2019
  • Department Seminar, UC San Diego, 2019
  • Political Economy Seminar, Warwick University, 2019
  • Political Economy Seminar, London School of Economics, 2019
  • Development Economics Seminar, WZB, 2019
  • Political Economy Seminar, Kellogg School, Northwestern University, 2018
  • Political Economy Seminar, Harris School, University of Chicago, 2018
  • American Politics Conference, MIT, 2018
  • Political Economy Conference, Emory University, 2018
  • Bureaucratic Politics Workshop, Ohio State University, 2018
  • State Capacity Conference, Harvard University, 2018
  • Comparative Politics Seminar, Boston University, 2017
  • Comparative Politics Speaker Series, Harvard University, 2017
  • American Politics Speaker Series (CSDP), Princeton University, 2017
  • Niehaus Center for Globalization & Governance Seminar, Princeton University, 2017
  • Northeast Workshop in Empirical Political Science (NEWEPS), NYU, 2016
  • Georg W. Leitner Seminar on Political Economy, Yale University, 2016
  • Comparative Politics Workshop, Yale University, 2015, 2016
  • Experimental Political Science Graduate Conference, Harvard University, 2016
  • National WGAPE Meeting, World Bank and Georgetown University, 2016
  • Center on the Politics of Development Workshop, UC Berkeley, 2015, 2016
  • CAPERS Conference, Columbia University, 2013, 2015
  • Research&Innovation in Governance Conference, Yale Africa Initiative, Nairobi, 2014
  • Yale Georg W. Leitner Graduate Workshop on Political Economy, 2013, 2014
  • Yale African Politics Working Group, 2014
  • Yale Experiments Workshop, 2011, 2014
  • Yale CIRA Conference, 2012

Conference Presentations

  • American Political Science Association, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • African Studies Association, 2015, 2016
  • European Political Science Association, 2015, 2018
  • Midwest Political Science Association, 2013, 2015

Teaching

  • Governance in Developing Countries, Graduate Seminar, Harvard University, Spring 2019
  • African Politics, Undergraduate Seminar, Harvard University, Fall 2017 & 2018, Spring 2020
  • Political Economy Research Workshop, Graduate Course, Harvard University, Fall 2017 (with Robert Bates and Torben Iversen)
  • Teaching Fellow African Politics, Undergraduate Course, Yale University, Fall 2014
  • Teaching Fellow, Fundamentals of Modeling II (Game Theory), Graduate Course, Yale University, Spring 2013
  • Teaching Fellow, Introduction to Statistics, Graduate Course,  Yale University, Fall 2012
  • Teaching Fellow, Advanced Economic Analysis (Macro), Graduate Course, Columbia University, Spring 2007
  • Teaching Assistant, Demographics & Social Structure, Undergraduate Course, University of Munich, 2005
  • Workshop Instructor, LaTeX, Yale Statistics Lab, Spring 2013
  • Workshop Instructor, Executive Education, JPAL/IPA, 2012
  • Workshop Instructor, Survey Design, Yale Statistics Lab, Fall 2012

Other Work Experience 

  • Research Consultant, Social Impact/USAID, Evidence Review on Political Participation, 2012
  • Consultant, Statistics Lab, Yale University, 2012
  • Country Director, Innovations for Poverty Action, Uganda, 2009-2010
  • Project Coordinator, Innovations for Poverty Action, Uganda, 2008-2009
  • Research Assistant, Prof. Chris Blattman, Survey on War Affected Youth (SWAY) & Northern Uganda Social Action Fund, 2007
  • Consultant, UNDP Regional Center Asia-Pacific, MDG Initiative, 2006
  • Research Assistant, Prof. Ulrich Beck, University of Munich, 2004-2005