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Andrea Vaccaro
Visiting Researcher
Andrea Vaccaro is a Visiting Researcher at UNU-WIDER, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Insubria, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Sapienza University of Rome. His research interests lie primarily at the crossroads between comparative politics and global development, with a particular focus on the links between the state, political regimes, and development, measurement issues, and quantitative methods.
Dr Vaccaro holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Helsinki, a master’s degree in Development and International Cooperation from the Sapienza University of Rome, and a PhD in Applied Social Sciences from the Sapienza University of Rome. The title of his PhD project was ‘On the Measurement of State Capacity: Quantitative Questions and Conceptual Considerations’. During his doctoral studies, he also spent time as a Visiting PhD Fellow at UNU-WIDER and as a Visiting PhD Researcher at the Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg.
His research has been published in internationally recognized academic journals such as European Political Science and media outlets such as The Conversation.
11 articles, publications, projects...
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Policy seminar
UNU-WIDER at the Effective development co-operation summit
Policy Brief
Development effectiveness in fragile contexts: Evidence from an international research conferenceThis policy brief draws on the studies presented at the International Research Conference on the Effectiveness of Development Cooperation on 17–18 November 2022, in Brussels, Belgium, jointly organized by UNU-WIDER and the European Commission (...
Policy Brief
Building evidence around the effectiveness principles: Findings from an international research conferenceThis policy brief draws on the studies presented at the International Research Conference on the Effectiveness of Development Cooperation on 17–18 November 2022, in Brussels, Belgium and jointly organized by UNU-WIDER and the European Commissio...
Aid effectiveness Aid policyJournal Article
COVID-19 and the state: Exploring a puzzling relationship in the early stages of the pandemicTHIS ARTICLE IS ON EARLY VIEW | During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was wealthier countries with stronger institutions that suffered the highest numbers of cases and fatalities...
COVID-19 the state PandemicJournal Article
Measures of state capacity: So similar, yet so differentTHIS ARTICLE IS ON EARLY VIEW | This study provides a systematic comparative analysis of seven common cross-national measures of state capacity by focusing on three measurement issues: convergent validity, interchangeability, and case-specifc disagre...
Journal Article
Income inequality in authoritarian regimes: The role of political institutions and state capacityTHIS ARTICLE IS ON EARLY VIEW | In recent decades, there has been an institutional shift in the literature on authoritarian regimes, with scholars investigating the role of political institutions, such as elections and political parties, in shaping r...
Working Paper
Ethnic dominance and exclusion: Unpacking cross-national dataIt is widely accepted that the distribution of power between ethnic groups within a country plays a key role in major social, political, and economic outcomes...
Exclusion Ethnicity DataBlog
Why countries best placed to handle the pandemic appear to have fared the worstDuring the first year of the pandemic, it was wealthier countries, with their comparatively stronger health systems, civil services, legal systems and other public services, that suffered the highest rates of COVID-19...
COVID-19 Pandemic StateWorking Paper
COVID-19 and the stateWe expect effective state institutions to matter in a country’s ability to respond to crises...
COVID-19 Pandemic StateBlog
Headline data suggests low-income states are coping better with the pandemic than high-income states. But is this true?States with fragile state health systems have been commended for effective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic...
COVID-19 Capable states State capacitySeminar
Andrea Vaccaro on comparing cross-national measures of state capacityAndrea Vaccaro gave a presentation for the UNU-WIDER staff on 29 April 2020. The presentation was held as a webinar. Summary: Comparing cross-national measures of state capacity In the last few decades research on state capacity, its causes, and its...