Robert H. Bates

Robert H. Bates is the Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Professor of African and African American Studies in the Department of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the political economy of development, particularly in Africa, and on violence and state failure. He has conducted extensive field work across Zambia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, and Ghana.

His primary research areas include:

• Political Economy of Development
• African Political Systems
• Economic Violence
• State Collapse Mechanisms
• Political Instability Drivers
• Development Policy in Africa

Bates currently serves as a researcher with the Africa Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi and as a member of the U.S. Government's Political Instability Task Force. From 2000-2007, he was Professeur associe at the University of Toulouse School of Economics. His influential publications include "Analytic Narratives" (1999), "Prosperity and Violence" (2001), and "When Things Fell Apart" (2007), examining intersections of economic development and political stability.