Daniel Nielson

Daniel Nielson is Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, Director of Graduate Studies for the Government PhD program, and Executive Director of Research at UT-Austin’s Innovations for Peace and Development. He holds courtesy appointments at the McCombs School of Business and is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Brigham Young University, where he co-founded the Global Politics Lab. He is also a co-founder and former Chief Social Scientist of AidData.

Education

• PhD in International Affairs, University of California – San Diego (1997)

Research Interests

Nielson’s scholarship centers on international development, foreign aid, corruption control, and the design of international organizations. He is a pioneer in applying transnational field experiments to causal questions in political economy, using randomized interventions to study how information, incentives, and institutions shape behavior across countries and sectors.

His work often bridges traditional political science, economics, and public policy, integrating insights from behavioral economics and digital technology to understand how citizens, firms, and governments respond to global economic pressures and governance reforms.

Methodologically, he emphasizes transparency, pre-registration, and large-scale data collection, frequently partnering with NGOs, governments, and international organizations to embed experiments in real-world policy settings.

Publication Trends

Across 2021-2025, Nielson’s articles explore three broad themes: (1) taxation and accountability, examining how visibility and framing of taxes influence citizen demands on governments; (2) COVID-19 health behavior, testing digital nudges to promote vaccination across countries; and (3) international political economy, investigating the effects of sanctions, foreign aid, and trade policies on firms, voters, and bureaucrats. A consistent hallmark is rigorous field experimentation embedded in global contexts.

Scientific Awards

No specific awards are listed in the provided text; the CV should be consulted for fellowships, grants, or prizes.

Advising & Research Teams

As Director of Graduate Studies in the Government Department, Nielson oversees doctoral training and advises numerous PhD students working at the intersection of international relations, comparative politics, and experimental methods. He leads or co-leads several multi-institutional research initiatives, including Innovations for Peace and Development at UT-Austin and the AidData consortium, which collectively involve teams of graduate researchers, post-docs, and international collaborators.

Laboratories & Collaborations

Nielson co-founded the Global Politics Lab at Brigham Young University and continues to engage with AidData, a research lab that blends geospatial data, policy analysis, and field experiments to evaluate development outcomes worldwide.