Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Politics of Status in International Development

被国际组织归类为“低收入国家”或“欠发达国家”的国家往往会得到国际社会慷慨的财政援助和特殊待遇。随着各国从这些类别“毕业”到更高的类别，这种转变被国际社会积极地看待，反过来，往往导致获得额外的社会和物质优势。面对这种权衡，一些国家试图留在发展中类别，而另一些国家则努力被归类为发达国家。PI解释了为什么捐助者和投资者等经济精英如此受这些分类的影响，反过来又解释了为什么各国采取旨在改变其分类的战略。该项目说明了各国如何平衡其物质利益与提高国际地位的愿望，并追溯了这种地位等级是如何产生的。为了研究这一现象，PI利用了跨国数据，对经济专家进行了实验室实验，并采访了多个国家的政府官员。该项目突出了世界银行和联合国等机构如何有意无意地影响发展中国家的机会和战略。这些发现为官僚决策如何帮助创建或维持一个国家的发展分类提供了有用的见解，而发展分类反过来又影响了在制定政策时参考这些系统的经济精英。摘要尽管在国际关系文献中假定经济发展地位很重要，但学者们对这种地位可能激发国家行为的条件了解相对较少。特别是，这种地位可能影响到各国为获得特定地位而采取的战略类型。PI通过研究发展中国家的地位政治来回答这两个问题。这项研究的重点是国际组织如何对特定的国家进行分类。该项目的第一部分解释了为什么这种分类显著影响精英经济行为者对这些国家的看法和与之互动的方式。PI使用跨国数据测试原始的认知策略理论，该数据利用任意阈值和数据冲击作为识别来源。PI还对精英样本进行了实验室实验，以调查这个问题。该项目的第二部分调查了各国寻求或避免某些经济发展地位分类的战略反应。PI使用跨国数据分析和对多个国家政府官员的访谈来评估各国如何平衡其对经济发展地位的渴望与物质利益。

General AbstractNations categorized as "lower income countries" or "less developed countries" by international organizations tend to receive generous financial assistance and special treatment from the international community. As countries 'graduate' from these to higher categories, the shift is viewed positively by the international community and, in turn, often results in receiving additional social and material advantages. Faced with this tradeoff, some countries attempt to remain within the developing categories, while others strive to be categorized as developed. The PI explains why economic elites, like donors and investors, are so influenced by these classifications and, in turn, why countries pursue strategies designed to change their classifications. The project illustrates how countries balance their material interests with their desire for improved international status and traces how such status hierarchies emerge. To study this phenomenon, the PI draws on cross-national data, a lab experiment administered to economic experts, and interviews with government bureaucrats in multiple countries. The project highlights how institutions like the World Bank and United Nations -- whether intentionally or unintentionally -- affect the opportunities and strategies available to developing countries. The findings provide useful insight about how bureaucratic decision making might help create or maintain a country's development classification, which, in turn, influence economic elites who refer to these systems when making policy decisions. Technical AbstractDespite the assumed importance of economic development status in the international relations literature, scholars have relatively scant understanding of the conditions under which such status might motivate state behavior. In particular, such status might affect the types of strategies countries adopt to obtain a particular status. The PI speaks to both questions by studying the status politics of developing countries. The research focuses on how specific states are classified by international organizations. The first part of the project explains why such classifications significantly affect the way elite economic actors perceive and interact with these countries. The PI tests an original cognitive-strategic theory using cross-national data that utilizes the arbitrary thresholds and shocks to data as sources of identification. The PI also administers a lab experiment conducted on an elite sample to investigate the question. The second part of the project investigates the strategic responses of countries either to seek or to avoid certain classifications of economic development status. The PI uses cross-national data analysis and interviews with government bureaucrats in multiple countries to assess how states balance their desire for economic development status with material interests.