Philipp Kerler

Welcome!

Political economy, comparative politics, and development meet in my research.

Currently, I focus on the political effects of structural transformations — especially how they relate to the rise of the far right in non-WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic) countries. Structural economic explanations are at the heart of theories explaining this phenomenon in advanced Western democracies, yet we observe the same political outcomes in some of the largest democracies in the world, where structural transformations are substantially different from those in Europe or the US. So why do we see similar political outcomes, even though the explanatory variable changes?

I seek to contribute on theoretical and empirical grounds, as I believe in a strong complementarity between both. To structure my theoretical thinking, I often resort to formal modeling. In my empirical work, I use quantitative methods to analyze a wide range of data. Being trained in Political Science and Economics, I aspire to foster the growing connection between both fields.