This book proposes a simple framework for understanding the political economy of subsidy reform and applies it to four in-depth country studies covering more than 30 distinct episodes of reform. Five key lessons emerge. First, energy subsidies often follow a life cycle, beginning as a way to...

This note comes in three sections. First, the information required for political economy analysis of energy subsidy reforms is presented. Second, a summary is given of the information that can usually be obtained through desk research to provide the context for subsequent interviews and another...

There is no integrated regime governing efforts to limit the extent of climate change. Instead, there is a regime complex: a loosely coupled set of specific regimes. We describe the regime complex for climate change and seek to explain it, using functional, strategic, and organizational...

Ever since the 1970s, a small number of national oil companies (NOCs) have dominated the world supply of oil and other hydrocarbons. Despite the huge influence that NOCs have on political economy, systematic scholarship remains surprisingly thin. I examine the factors that explain the wide...

Each year, groups ranging from multinationals to non-profits spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying America's federal government on foreign policy. This massive flow of private dollars raises concerns about the health of political pluralism in the realm of America's international...

One of the best-known and most replicated laboratory results in behavioral economics is that bargainers frequently reject low offers, even when it harms their material self-interest. This finding could have important implications for international negotiations on many problems facing humanity...

Transparency can have a large impact on whether the work of international legal institutions such as tribunals is seen as legitimate as well as the ability of governments to manage the domestic audience costs of adjusting to international norms. International investment arbitration offers a...