Weatherhead Research Cluster on Business and Government
The Political Economy of Firms and States in a Changing World
Business interests are powerful players in all political systems, and an improved understanding of state-business relations is essential to addressing many of the most significant challenges of our time, from the weakening of democratic institutions to the reversal of global economic integration.
What strategies do firms use to secure their interests? Why do these strategies vary across contexts and over time? How do divisions within business shape politics and policy? When do state-business relations lead to capture and corruption? Under what conditions is business influence instead a force for responsive government and broadly shared prosperity?
When business is not part of the solution, it is frequently part of the problem. By better understanding the political economy of business-government relations in the contemporary world, we hope to provide new insights into how business influence can be a positive force for democracy and development.
Our work thus focuses on several broad problems: strategies of business influence; firm responses to deglobalization; the politics of deindustrialization; and concentration, regulation, and technology. We aim to address these themes by bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scholars at all career stages to reexamine and revitalize the study of business and politics.
If you are a current Harvard affiliate and would like to get involved, please join the mailing list. More information about the cluster’s research themes and upcoming agenda is available on its website.
Administration
The Weatherhead Research Cluster on Business and Government is chaired by Professors Alisha Holland, Gautam Nair, Meg Elizabeth Rithmire, and Dani Rodrik. Diana Ocampo Belloso is the cluster coordinator.
Alisha Holland
aholland@fas.harvard.eduResearch interests: The political determinants and consequences of infrastructure projects in Latin America; migration; crime control; and subnational governance.
Gautam Nair
gnair@hks.harvard.eduResearch interests: Comparative and international political economy; distributive politics; business-government relations; and South Asia.
Meg Elizabeth Rithmire
mrithmire@hbs.eduResearch interests: Comparative political economy of development and globalization in China and Southeast Asia.
Dani Rodrik
dani_rodrik@harvard.eduResearch interests: Globalization; economic growth and development; and political economy.
Diana Ocampo Belloso
dianaocampobelloso@wcfia.harvard.edu
All Weatherhead Research Clusters
Born out of a need to complement the Center’s traditional focus of supporting individual faculty and student research, our Weatherhead Research Clusters revolve around hefty questions for the social sciences and the world. These research clusters represent core faculty interests, and aim to make a significant contribution by pushing the frontier of knowledge in their respective fields.
When business is not part of the solution, it is frequently part of the problem. By better understanding the political economy of business-government relations in the contemporary world, we hope to provide new insights into how business influence can be a positive force for democracy and development. Our work thus focuses on several broad problems: strategies of business influence; firm responses to deglobalization; the politics of deindustrialization; and concentration, regulation, and technology. We aim to address these themes by bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scholars at all career stages to reexamine and revitalize the study of business and politics.
Learn more about the business and government research cluster >
How do we extend cultural membership to the greatest number in society? Gain a better understanding of the social and cultural processes behind recognition gaps? Determine how social scientists and policy makers can better respond to help make societies more inclusive? By bringing together academics from a variety of disciplines and institutions, the cluster fosters a research community that seeks to build up the systemic theory around inequality and recognition gaps and create sustained opportunities for cross-pollination of ideas. Cluster affiliates have studied a wide range of topics—including racism, xenophobia, homophobia, immigration, destigmatization, incorporation, citizenship, indigeneity, and more—across various national and transnational contexts.
Learn more about the comparative inequality and inclusion research cluster >
Addressing climate change requires global collective action, underpinned by international institutions, frameworks, and policies. However, current climate action is moving too slowly—due to unwieldy policy structures and obstacles presented by multipronged core missions, among other reasons. This research cluster aims to accelerate the pace and scale of climate action by identifying and developing new global policy initiatives that address the challenges at hand. We leverage experts across many fields at Harvard and MIT to generate policy ideas, galvanize action, and engage students and alumni toward a deeper understanding of international climate coordination.
Learn more about the global climate policy research cluster >
Global history is one of the leading new approaches in recent years that has helped to transform the study of the past. The contemporary trends summarized under the term “globalization” have lent urgency to research that examines historical processes, networks, identities, and events across the boundaries of the nation-states that traditionally served as the privileged framework for much of the discipline. Historians worldwide have contributed to exciting research on the trends that so many societies have undergone together. In the process, global history has drawn on the expertise of political scientists, sociologists, art historians, economists, anthropologists, and others. This research cluster was designed to build on and focus its faculty leadership in new directions for international study.
The deliberate targeting of LGBTQI+ communities is part of an increasingly coordinated and well-resourced transnational strategy to polarize societies, weaken democratic institutions, and expand illiberal influences. This rising transnational threat is in many respects a reactionary backlash against hard-earned advances won by and for LGBTQI+ people over the last generation. This research cluster examines the interplay of state and nonstate actors as leading drivers of this global backlash against democracy and human rights. We convene leading human rights scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and activists to produce cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, data-informed policy recommendations, and new public engagement and culture change strategies to promote the safety and security—and protect and advance the human rights—of LGBTQI+ people worldwide.
Learn more about the global LGBTQI+ human rights research cluster >
Ethnic and sectarian conflict are on the rise across the world—or at least show few signs of abatement—making it urgent to understand why some communities develop norms and practices of toleration, achieve reconciliation, or resist the politicization of these identities. When intergroup tensions have ratcheted up, is it possible to mitigate the impact? Can a shared civic identity be (re)constructed in the wake of violence waged in the name of nationalism, ethnicity, or religion? This research cluster explores ways to improve intergroup relations in postconflict countries by bringing together a worldwide network of scholars that will draw on evidence from diverse global regions.
Learn more about the identity and conflict research cluster >
Valuing Accessibility
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs welcomes affiliates with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you are associated with the Weatherhead Center or one of its programs and would like to request accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please get in touch with your program coordinator in advance of your participation. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance, if possible. Please note that the university will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.