Alice Iannantuoni

Alice Iannantuoni

Postdoctoral Researcher

Welcome!

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. I work with Simone Dietrich on a Swiss NSF-funded project assessing the creation, evolution, and diffusion of norms in international development and aid giving — with particular focus on the role of the donor peer review tool of the OECD Development Assistance Committee and on the text analysis of its documents.

I specialize in international political economy, development, and foreign aid. I am interested in both (i) why and how wealthy states give foreign aid and (ii) the consequences of these aid allocation decisions for the effect of aid on political outcomes in recipient countries. In my dissertation project, I study the phenomenon of aid volatility and its pernicious effects on institutional development in recipient countries. With hundreds of billions spent in official development assistance by traditional donors every year, I want to understand which aid giving practices undermine aid effectiveness, and if and how international organizations play a role in improving donor behavior.

I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in December 2020. My research has been published in The Review of International Organizations and World Development. You can find a copy of my CV here.

Interests

  • International Political Economy
  • Foreign Aid and Development
  • International Organizations
  • Causal Inference and Text Data

Education

  • Ph.D. in Political Science, 2020

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • M.A. in Political Science, 2016

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • B.A. in Political Science, 2013

    North Dakota State University

Research

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Christopher Grady, Alice Iannantuoni, and Matthew S. Winters. 2021. ‘‘Influencing the Means but Not the Ends: The Role of Entertainment-Education Interventions in Development.’’ World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105200
  • Alice Iannantuoni, Charla Waeiss, and Matthew S. Winters. 2020. “Project Design Decisions of Egalitarian and Non-Egalitarian International Organizations: Evidence from the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank.” The Review of International Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-019-09368-8

 

Working Papers

  • “Foreign Aid Volatility and Institutional Development in Recipient Countries.” (Under review. Manuscript available upon request.)
  • “Playing Favorites? How the Rotating Presidency of the European Union Leaves Little Room for Preferential Treatment in EU Foreign Aid Allocation.” (Manuscript available upon request.)
  • “From Discourse to Meaningful Action in Foreign Aid? Evidence from the OECD Development Assistance Committee.” With Simone Dietrich and Bernhard Reinsberg. (Manuscript available upon request.)
  • “Business as Usual or Donor Politics? An Analysis of Peer Review Assignments in the OECD Development Assistance Committee.” With Simone Dietrich and Bernhard Reinsberg. (Manuscript available upon request.)

 

Work in Progress

  • “Evolution of Norms in International Development: The Role of the OECD Development Assistance Committee.” With Simone Dietrich.
  • “Gender Markers in OECD Foreign Aid Data: Who Assesses, Who Marks, and Where Does Gender-Marked Aid Go?” With Simone Dietrich and Katharina Fleiner.

Teaching

Independent Instructor

  • Comparative Politics in Developing Nations, UIUC (Spring 2020)
  • Impact Evaluation Workshop at NGO The Prajnya Trust, Chennai, India (Summer 2019)
  • Governing Globalization, UIUC (Spring 2019)
  • Intro to Political Science, UIUC (Online, Fall 2018)
  • Comparative Politics in Developing Nations, UIUC (Online, Summer 2018)
  • Politics of the European Union, UIUC (Online, Summer 2017)

 

Online Course Design

  • Comparative Politics in Developing Nations, developed with Dr. Matthew Winters, UIUC

 

Guest Lecturer

  • Politics of Conflict, for instructor Dr. Matteo Casiraghi, Bocconi University (Graduate, Fall 2021)
  • Political Economy of Foreign Aid, for instructor Dr. Simone Dietrich, University of Geneva (Graduate, Fall 2020)
  • Comparative Politics in Developing Nations, for instructor Dr. Matthew Winters, UIUC (Spring 2015 and Fall 2017)

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant

  • Strategic International Relations, for instructor Dr. Robert Carroll, UIUC (Fall 2019)
  • Intro to Comparative Politics, for instructor Dr. Carol Leff, UIUC (Spring 2015)
  • Comparative Politics in Developing Nations, for instructor Dr. Matthew Winters, UIUC (Fall 2014)

 

Teaching Certificates and Achievements

  • Featured in the list of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students for every semester of in-person instruction, UIUC (*Fall 2014, Spring 2015, *Spring 2019, *Spring 2020)
    • Asterisks indicate “outstanding” distinction, top 10% of instructors on campus
  • Marvin G. Weinbaum Award for Excellence in Teaching as an Independent Instructor, UIUC (AY 2019–2020)
  • Graduate Teacher Certificate, Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning, UIUC (Spring 2015)

 

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