Vanessa Cheng-Matsuno

Vanessa Cheng-Matsuno is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Public Policy at the University of Southampton's Department of Politics and International Relations. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the London School of Economics (LSE) and focuses on quantitative political economy, political behavior, and experimental methods. Her research examines political crises' effects on elite behavior, voter preferences, and public policy efficiency, with a regional focus on Latin America.

Education:

• PhD in Political Science, LSE (2023)
• Master in Public Administration (MPA), Harvard University
• Bachelor in Economics, Universidad del Pacífico

Research Interests: Political instability, partisan alignment in bureaucracy, voter behavior, causal inference, and governance in developing economies. She employs experimental designs and RCTs to study issues like transnational corruption, voter mobilization, and bureaucratic responses to political crises.

Teaching:

• University of Southampton: Advanced Policy Analysis, Comparative Public Administration
• LSE: Teaching Fellow for Public Management and Data Analysis courses
• King's College London: Taught Quantitative Methods and Political Sociology

Professional Experience:

• World Bank, J-PAL Latin America, and Inter-American Development Bank researcher
• Civil service experience in Peru
• Participated in CIVICA Data Science Days conference, presenting research on methodological innovations

Labs/Teams: Active member of the Government Lab at the University of Southampton, focusing on applied policy analysis and data-driven governance solutions.