# Seminar Series: Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy The Faculty of Arts and Sciences and IQSS sponsor this seminar on formal and quantitative political research. The Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy (PE) supports research-related activities that integrate the study of economics and politics, whether by studying economic behavior in the political process or political behavior in the marketplace. In general, positive political economy is concerned with showing how observed differences among institutions affect political and economic outcomes in various social, economic, and political systems and how the institutions themselves change and develop in response to individual and collective beliefs, preferences, and strategies. All interested faculty and students are invited to attend. **Note:** All seminars are **in person only,** either in the Littauer Center or the Knafel Building. Please see the calendar event or subscribe to the mailing list to confirm location. [ draftsSubscribe to the Alesina Seminar mailing list](https://lists.iq.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/ppe_list) ## **About the Seminar** Alberto Alesina was a principal organizer of, and a central participant in, the Political Economy Seminar that has been a mainstay of scholarly activity in Political Economy at Harvard for thirty years. His untimely death shocked and saddened the Political Economy community here and around the world. The Political Economy Seminar that Alberto helped run continues to meet, although we miss his trenchant comments and constant good humor. The Seminar is now organized by faculty from the departments of Economics and Government, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Harvard Business School, and attracts scholars from around Harvard as well as other area institutions. In Alberto’s memory, we have named the seminar “The Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy.” The Seminar continues to receive support from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. In addition, it has received a very generous contribution from Eni, an Italian energy company, in honor of Alberto’s life work. We are grateful to the support we have received, and continue to receive, from all these sources, as well as from the departments of Economics and Government. ### Seminar Organizing Committee Peter Buisseret Jeffry Frieden Vincent Pons Pia Raffler Dani Rodrik James Snyder Marco Tabellini David Yang ## Upcoming Seminars Check back soon for an updated schedule of sessions. ## Faculty Sponsors [### Dani Rodrik ](/people/dani-rodrik) [dani\_rodrik@harvard.edu](mailto:dani_rodrik@harvard.edu)Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, HKS Dani Rodrik is Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has published widely in the areas of economic development, international economics, and political economy. His current research focuses on... ![Dani Rodrik](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/rodrik_dani_2021.jpg?itok=0QOBPq78) [### David Y Yang ](/people/david-y-yang) Assistant Professor of Economics David Yang’s research focuses on political economy, behavioral and experimental economics, economic history, and cultural economics. In particular, David studies the forces of stability and forces of changes in authoritarian regimes, drawing lessons from... ![David Y Yang](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/david-y-yang_2019.jpg?itok=QMyoXB8K) [### James Snyder ](/people/james-snyder) Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science, FAS Professor Snyder's primary research and teaching interests are in American politics. He has written on elections, campaign finance, legislative behavior and institutions, direct democracy, the media, and corruption. He is a Research Associate at the... ![James Snyder](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/jams_synder_0.png?itok=uIz3QyaP) [### Marco Tabellini ](/people/marco-tabellini) Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School Research Affiliate, CEPR and IZA Marco Tabellini is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy unit and a Research Affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and at IZA. He earned his PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of... ![Marco Tabellini](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/marco-tabellini-2021.jpg?itok=FtG4lNSg) [### Pia Raffler ](/people/pia-raffler) Assistant Professor of Government, FAS Pia Raffler is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at Harvard University. She studies the politics of development, focusing on governance, bureaucracy, and electoral politics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her research focuses on political oversight of... ![Pia Raffler](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/pia_raffler_pic.jpg?itok=mgiev05n) [### Vincent Pons ](/people/vincent-pons) Associate Professor, Harvard Business School Local affiliate at Center for European Studies I am an Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, and I am affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). ​ Across the world, dissatisfaction with elected governments is at all... ![Vincent Pons](/sites/g/files/omnuum8171/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/harvard-iqss/files/vincent-pons-2021_hires.png?itok=oq3tYVP5)