2026-27 AY PT Research Fellowship: Assessing the Effectiveness of Decentralization on Economic Development in the Middle East
The Stanford King Center on Global Development’s Academic Year Part-Time Research Fellowship Program connects King Center faculty affiliates and affiliated researchers with undergraduate students committed to providing research support during autumn, winter, and spring quarters.
Students have the opportunity to engage in world-class research that has real-world impact. Undergraduate student research fellows are paid $19/hour*. Students must be enrolled full-time to participate and must be able to commit to research 8-10 hours per week.
*Students must attend orientation and submit an I-9 form to verify employment and receive payment. Students who cannot accept pay may be allowed to receive academic credit for this research.
Research Project Description:
Administrative and political decentralization has been at the center stage of policy experiments in a large number of developing economies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, even credited with China’s phenomenal industrial growth. The actual politics of decentralization are not well understood, however, and there are often gaps between reform rhetoric and policy implementation. This project seeks to make a contribution not our understanding of the determinants of economic growth as related to the politics of decentralization in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Primary Research Mentor: Lisa Blaydes
Co-Research Mentor: N/A
Stanford undergraduate students in good academic standing and enrolled full-time are eligible to apply. Co-term students must have undergraduate student status; if co-terms are in graduate billing status (after 12 quarters) they are ineligible to participate.
All majors are welcome!
Students Responsibilities:
- Work in R and Python
- Data collection and analysis
- Literature reviews
Students qualifications:
- Knowledge of Python
- Knowledge of Data Wrangling in R
- Knowledge of Excel and ArcGIS (all helpful not required)
- Arabic and French useful but also not required
Time Commitment:
The time commitment is 8-10 hours per week (equivalent to a 3-unit course) each academic quarter. The expectation is that students will work the full academic year with their mentor (Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters). Students planning on studying abroad may not be eligible.
To Apply:
Along with the application, applicants are asked to submit:
- a cover letter
- resume or CV
- unofficial Stanford transcript (first quarter frosh do not need to submit transcripts for autumn quarter applications)
Research Mentor Questions for Applicants:
