• Debt-Led Growth and Regime Stability: The Divergent Paths of Turkey and Malaysia in the Global Financial System (draft in progress)

The global rise of financial markets and the decline of public goods provision have driven many governments, especially in the developing world, to shift from state-led welfare systems to policies promoting easier access to private loans to meet basic needs like healthcare, education, and housing to stimulate growth. Departing from this observation, this study examines why some regimes that rely on debt-led consumption for economic growth become repressive, while others do not.

  • Debt, Democracy, and Discontent? The Political Implications of Household Debt in Malaysia (with Jonas Willibald Schmid, draft in progress)

Based on original survey data collected in 2022 a few months before the general elections in Malaysia, we test whether the type and composition of household debt has any impact on preference for democratic governance, political ideology, and attitudes toward government intervention. Our findings reveal a consistent association between indebtedness—particularly education and consumer debt—and increased trust in incumbent government, right-leaning ideological positioning, and paradoxically, ambiguous support for both democratic and authoritarian political systems.

  • Unequal Orbits: The Material Foundations of Inequality in the Growing Satellite Economy (with Mariana Walter, draft in progress)

The rapid expansion of the satellite economy, particularly in low Earth orbit (LEO), has been celebrated as a catalyst for global connectivity and economic development. However, this growth is paralleled by emerging conflicts over the key materials—specifically, the extraction and control of rare earth elements (REEs) which are essential for the production of satellites due to their magnetic, optical, and conductive properties. At the same time, the increasing demand for REEs also paves the way to inequalities in access, production, and geopolitical control, raising critical questions about the sustainability of current practices. This paper examines how the material dimension of digital technologies in the satellite industry contributes to the new forms of inequality and dependency or replicates existing imbalances.

  • From Welfare to Debt: the New Governance of Public Goods Provision and Private Debt in Emerging Markets (draft in progress)

This paper argues that broader changes in the global economic system with growing dominance of financial markets and the decline of state in public goods provision has led to a major change where governments combine privatized welfare systems with policies that enable easier access to debt in varying ways. The outcome is a broader policy shift from expanding access to public welfare programs to governance of private debt in the developing world.  The paper surveys these transformations by comparing emerging debt regimes of three small open economies: Argentina, Malaysia and Turkey.

  • From ESG to Authoritarian Resilience: the Rise of Green Bonds in the Periphery of Europe (draft in progress)

This paper argues that the recent surge in demand for green bonds has inadvertently bridged a critical financing gap for authoritarian regimes, particularly in the aftermath of the global credit crunch following the 2008 financial crisis. Drawing upon exploratory case studies and descriptive data from Hungary and Turkey, the paper illustrates how authoritarian governments have leveraged the green bond market to secure funds for ostensibly sustainable projects.

In Hiatus

  • Does Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Increase the Quality of Democracy? An Instrumental Variable Analysis (with Jonas Willibald Schmid, draft completed)

Does FDI improve or worsen democratic quality in the long run? Based on instrumental variable analysis, this paper finds that a rise in the inward FDI stock increases the probability of a decline across major components of democratic quality. The findings further reveal that the probability of a negative change is strong and robust. By contrast, the amount of inward FDI stock has no continuous effect on democratic quality.

  • The Financial Roots of Climate Change (draft completed)

Using data from NASA's GISTEMP, CMIP5 models, and S&P500 Index, this paper argues that pressures to boost corporate profits and shareholder value encourage companies to cut a lot of corners in managing their environmental externalities. The accumulated impact of this behavior adds further momentum to global greenhouse gas production and contributes to greater swings in temperature anomalies.