Edmund Malesky, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Contact Info:

Teaching (Fall 2026):

• POLSCI 745.01, CORE IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Synopsis

  Gross Hall 105, Th 08:45 AM-11:15 AM

Education:

Ph.D., Duke University, 2004

Research Interests:

Edmund Malesky is an associate professor of political economy at Duke University. He has published in leading political science and economic journals, including the American Political Science Review and Journal of Politics, and has been awarded the Harvard Academy Fellowship and Gabriel Almond Award for best dissertation in comparative politics. Malesky serves as the lead researcher for the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index and is a noted specialist in the political development in Vietnam and China, comparative political economy in Southeast Asia, as well as economic transitions in developing economies. Malesky is a specialist on Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Currently, his research agenda is very much at the intersection of comparative and international political economy, falling into three major categories: 1) Authoritarian political institutions and their consequences; 2) The political influence of foreign direct investment and multinational corporations; and 3) Political institutions, private business development, and formalization.

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Malesky, EJ; Phan, TN; Xu, DY; Fetter, TR, Do better managers bribe less? Cross-national and experimental evidence, Business and Politics (January, 2026), pp. 1-30, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [doi]  [abs].
2. Crippa, L; Malesky, EJ; Picci, L, Corrigendum: Making Bribery Profitable Again? the Market Effects of Suspending Accountability for Overseas Bribery (International Organization (2025) 79:4 (739-758) DOI: 10.1017/S0020818325100970), International Organization, vol. 80 no. 1 (January, 2026), pp. 235 [doi]  [abs].
3. Fertig, A; Hartman, A; Iyer, L; Malesky, E, A Field of Her Own: Property Rights and Women's Agency in Myanmar., The journal of politics, vol. 88 no. 1 (January, 2026), pp. 192-204 [doi]  [abs].
4. Bonifai, NW; Malesky, EJ; Rudra, N, Economic risk perceptions and willingness to learn about globalization: A field experiment with migrants and other underprivileged groups in Vietnam, American Journal of Political Science, vol. 69 no. 4 (October, 2025), pp. 1435-1453 [doi]  [abs].
5. Leventoğlu, B; Malesky, EJ; Wen, T, Synthesizing Theories of Authoritarian Elections: A Game-Free Analysis, Comparative Political Studies, vol. 58 no. 11 (September, 2025), pp. 2359-2400 [doi]  [abs].