Michael G. Findley
Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor of Government
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
Research umbrella: Conflict and Security
Pressure
Persuasion
Stabilization
Dynamics
Methodology
I publish in Nature Human Behaviour, PNAS, AJPS, International Organization, Management Science, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Cambridge University Press. Fieldwork in Colombia, DRC, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, the Bahamas, and elsewhere.
Professor (by courtesy) at McCombs and LBJ · Co-director, IPD · Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar · EGAP member · President, Evaluasi
Recent Articles
Nature Human Behaviour · 2026
The Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions Before and After the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Management Science · 2025
Can Digital Aid Deliver During Humanitarian Crises?
AJPS · 2025
Banking Bad: A Global Field Experiment on Risk, Reward, and Regulation
PNAS · 2024
Vulnerability in Research Ethics: A Call for Assessing Vulnerability and Implementing Protections
Books
Cambridge University Press · 2014
Global Shell Games
A coordinated field experiment across 182 countries exposing how easily shell companies shield illicit finance from regulators — research that shaped landmark U.S. and UK legislation.
globalshellgames.com →
Cambridge University Press · Under Contract
External Validity for Social Inquiry
A new framework for assessing when and how research findings travel across contexts, populations, and settings — developed across a decade of methodological work.
externalvalidity.com →
In preparation for submission
Aid in Conflict
Drawing on original data and field experiments across Sub-Saharan Africa, this book examines whether and how foreign aid shapes the onset, intensity, and resolution of violent conflict.
Learn more →
In progress
Wrong Is Right
On prediction precision and confirmation bias in empirical social science.
Learn more →
Explore
Contact
Department of Government · The University of Texas at Austin
3.102 Batts, Austin, TX 78712
mikefindley@utexas.edu