Macartan Humphreys

Macartan Humphreys is the Director of the Research Department Institutions and Political Inequality at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and holds honorary professorships in social sciences at Humboldt University Berlin and Trinity College Dublin. His work integrates experimental approaches, survey research, and formal theory to address questions in the political economy of development, governance, and political violence.

• Education: B.A. in history and political science from Trinity College Dublin (1994), M.Phil. in economics from Oxford (2000), Ph.D. in government from Harvard (2003).

His research spans causal inference, experimental design, and methodological innovation, with notable contributions to frameworks like MIDA for research design and CausalQueries for Bayesian causal modeling. Recent publications address global vaccine equity, endogenous growth under conflict, and democratic accountability through both quantitative and qualitative lenses.

Scientific roles and leadership include membership on the editorial boards of American Political Science Review, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and PSRM, as well as being a founding member of the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network and former President of the APSA Experiments section. His field experiments in post-conflict regions like Liberia, Congo, and Aceh have reshaped understanding of aid effectiveness, reintegration programs, and democratic institution-building.