Received Sylff Fellowship in 2007-09
Current Affiliation: Stanford University
Academic Supervisor: Adam Meirowitz
Academic Achievements, Social Engagement Initiatives:
Stanford University:
Professor of Political Science, Sept. 2022 – present
Professor, by courtesy, in the Graduate School of Business, Sept. 2022 – present
Senior Fellow (courtesy), Hoover Institution, Sept. 2022 – present
Faculty Associate, Center on Global Poverty & Development, Sept. 2017 – present
Faculty Associate, Center for South Asia, July 2014 - now
Associate Professor of Political Science, Sept. 2019 – Aug. 2022
Associate Professor, by courtesy, in the GSB, Sept. 2019 – Aug. 2022
Victoria Schuck Faculty Scholar, Sept. 2019 – Aug. 2022
Assistant Professor of Political Science, July 2014 – Aug. 2019
Fellow of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, Sept. 2016 - July 2017
University of Rochester:
Assistant Professor of Political Science and Economics, July 2012 - June 2014
Faculty Associate, Wallis Institute of Political Economy, July 2012 - June 2014
Princeton University:
Ph.D., Political Economy, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly called the Woodrow Wilson School), Sept. 2007-March 2012
Yale University:
B.A., Economics and Mathematics, Sept. 2002-May 2006
Books:
1. Acharya, Avidit and Alexander Lee. The Cartel System of States: An Economic Theory of International Politics, Oxford University Press, 2023.
2. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics, Princeton University Press, 2018.
Journal Articles:
1. Acharya, Avidit and Juan Ortner. “Paths to the Frontier,” American Economic Journal:
Microeconomics, Vol. 14, February 2022, pp. 30-69.
2. Acharya, Avidit, Kirk Bansak and Jens Hainmueller. “Combining Outcome-Based and
Preference-Based Matching: A Constrained Priority Mechanism,” Political Analysis, Vol. 30, January 2022, pp. 89-112.
3. Acharya, Avidit, Robin Harding and Andy Harris. “Security in the Absence of a State:
Traditional Authority, Livestock Trading and Maritime Piracy in Northern Somalia,” Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 32, October 2020, pp. 497-537.
4. Acharya, Avidit and Alexander Lee. “Path Dependence in European Development: Medieval Politics, Conflict and State Building,” Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 52, December 2019, pp.2171-2206.
5. Acharya, Avidit and Edoardo Grillo. “A Behavioral Foundation for Audience Costs,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Vol. 14, April 2019, pp. 159-90.
6. Acharya, Avidit and Alexander Lee. “Economic Foundations of the Territorial State System,” American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 62, October 2018, pp. 954-66.
7. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. “Analyzing Causal Mechanisms in Survey Experiments,” Political Analysis, Vol. 26, October 2018, pp. 357-78.
8. Acharya, Avidit, David D. Laitin and Anna Zhang. “Sons of the Soil: A Model of Assimilation and Population Control,” Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 30., April 2018, pp. 184-223.
9. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. “Explaining Preferences from Behavior: A Cognitive Dissonance Approach,” Journal of Politics, Vol. 80, April 2018, pp. 400-411.
10. Acharya, Avidit and Juan Ortner. “Progressive Learning,” Econometrica, Vol. 85, Nov. 2017, pp. 1965-1990.
11. Acharya, Avidit and Adam Meirowitz. “Sincere Voting in Large Elections” Games and Economic Behavior, Vol. 101, Jan. 2017, pp. 121-31.
12. Acharya, Avidit. “Information Aggregation Failure in a Model of Social Mobility,” (prior working paper version titled “Equilibrium False Consciousness”), Games and Economic Behavior, Vol. 100, Nov. 2016, pp. 257-72.
13. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. “Explaining Causal Findings without Bias: Detecting and Assessing Direct Effects,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 100, Aug. 2016, pp. 512-29.
14. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. “The Political Legacy of American
Slavery,” Journal of Politics, Vol. 78, No. 3, July 2016, pp. 621-41 (lead article).
15. Acharya, Avidit, John Roemer and Rohini Somanathan. “Caste, Corruption and Political Competition in India,” Research in Economics, Vol. 69, Sept. 2015, pp. 336-52.
16. Acharya, Avidit and Edoardo Grillo. “War with Crazy Types,” Political Science Research and Methods, Vol. 3, May 2015, pp. 281-307.
17. Acharya, Avidit and John Roemer. “Multidimensional Poverty with Missing Attributes,” E i L tt V l 130 M 2015 51 55 Economics Letters, Vol. 130, May 2015, pp. 51-55.
18. Acharya, Avidit and Juan Ortner. “Delays and Partial Agreements in Multi-Issue Bargaining,” Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 148, Sept. 2013, pp. 2150-63.
19. Acharya, Avidit and Kristopher Ramsay. “The Calculus of the Security Dilemma,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Vol. 8, April 2013, pp. 183-203.
Book chapters:
20. Acharya, Avidit, Matthew Blackwell and Maya Sen. (2022). “Historical Persistence” in Jeff Jenkins and Jared Rubin (eds.) Oxford Handbook on Historical Political Economy, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
21. Acharya, Avidit and John Roemer (2022). “Equality of Opportunity as a Measure of Development,” in Swarnim Waglé and Kanni Wignaraja (eds.) The Great Upheaval: Resetting Development Policy and Institutions for the Decade of Action in Asia and the Pacific, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
22. Acharya, Avidit. “The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal and the Political Economy of Violence,” in M. Lawoti and A. Pahari (eds.) The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Revolution in 21st Century, London: Routledge, 2010.
Honors and Awards:
1. Elinor Ostrom Award for best article published in JTP, for “Security in the Absence of a State: Traditional Authority, Livestock Trading, and Maritime Piracy in Somalia” (with Robin Harding and Andy Harris), 2022.
2. Gosnell Prize for Excellence in Political Methodology, for “Combining Outcome-Based and Preference-Based Matching: A Constrained Priority Mechanism” (with Kirk Bansak and Jens Hainmueller), 2020.
3. William H. Riker Book Award for the best book in Political Economy, for Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics (with Matt Blackwell and Maya Sen), 2019.
4. Joseph L. Bernd Best JOP paper award for “The Political Legacy of American Slavery,” (with Matt Blackwell and Maya Sen), 2016.
5. Fellow of the Society of Woodrow Wilson Scholars, Princeton, AY 2010-11.
6. Wrexham Prize, Yale College, for “the best senior essay in the social sciences,” 2006.
Avi Acharya is a professor of political science at Stanford University; a professor, by courtesy, of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; and senior fellow, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution. He works in the fields of political economy and formal political theory.
His first book, Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics (Princeton University Press, 2018), received the William H. Riker Award for the best book in political economy in 2019. His second book, The Cartel System of States: An Economic Theory of International Politics (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), provides a new understanding of the territorial state system as it developed through time and exists today.
His papers have been published in both economics and political science journals and have received awards such as the Elinor Ostrom best paper award, the Gosnell Prize in political methodology, and the Joseph Bernd best paper award. He is an editor at the journal Social Choice and Welfare and an advisory editor at Games and Economic Behavior.
He earned a PhD in political economy from Princeton University in 2012 and a BA in economics and mathematics from Yale University in 2006. Before joining the Stanford faculty, he taught in the economics and political science departments of the University of Rochester.
www.aviditacharya.com
