Research

The Political Logic of Subnational Public Goods Provision: Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract: My book project attempts to explain the variations in the patterns of subnational provision of public goods in developing countries. I argue that there is an interactive effect between ethnic geography and economic geography that inform the political elites of (1) what type of public goods to be allocated to maximize political returns to investment and (2) which subnational units to allocate to maximize economic returns to investment. I argue that all else equal, politicians will allocate targetable goods (e.g., latrines) to the core voters if ethnic geography is highly segregated and will target non-excludable goods (e.g. schools) if the ethnic geography is more dispersed with greater cross-cuttingness of ethnic groups. As for the role of economic geography, all else equal, politicians will target the areas that will bring greater returns not in terms of the growth rate (in which case poorer regions would be targeted instead) but more economically productive areas to increase efficiency and productivity of the region. I test the theory using a cross-national sample of countries and a case study of Indonesia.

Oh, Soomin and Hudson, David. 2024. "Why doesn’t everyone get the same?" Chapter 11 in Mcloughlin, C., Ali, S., Xie, K., Cheeseman, N., and Hudson, D. (eds.). The Politics of Development: Institutions, Incentives, and Ideas, London, Sage.  

Distributive Politics

• The Logic of Subnational Public Goods Allocation in Developing Countries: Evidence from Indonesia

• Decentralization and the Spatial Distribution of Infant Mortality in Less Developed Nations: Evidence from Flood Events (with Pablo Bermanendi and Melissa Rogers; Revise and resubmit)

Public Opinion on Poverty & Development

• People or planet? Public preferences on the economy or environment trade-off in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States (With David Hudson and Jennifer Hudson)

• After Kabul: Public preferences for aid to Afghanistan in Germany and the UK (With Paolo Morini, Jennifer Hudson, and David Hudson; under review)

• Deeds and Words: Linking Attitudes and Actions on Global Poverty and Development (With Paolo Morini, Felipe Torres, Jennifer Hudson, and David Hudson)

Historical Legacies on Development

• Politics of Death: Colonial Legacies and Water Provision around the World (with Pablo Beramendi and Melissa Rogers)