About me:

Bio: I am Director of the Center for Public Policy, and Distinguished Professor at the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston. I hold a law degree from Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina, an M.A. from Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, and a Ph.D. from University of California, San Diego.

Prior to joining the Hobby School, I served on the faculty of the Departments of Political Science at Columbia University (2004-2014), the University of Houston’s Department of Political Science as Associate Professor (2014-2017) and Affiliated Faculty (since 2018). Between 2017 and 2022 I was co-editor of Economics & Politics.

My areas of expertise are international and comparative political economy, comparative politics, policy analysis, and research methods. I have regional expertise in Latin America, East Asia, and federal, state and local politics in the United States. I held visiting positions and faculty appointments at Universidad de San Andres, the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, the Politics Department at New York University, Escuela Nacional de Gobierno (Argentina), and Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina). At the UNLP, I co-founded and directed the Department for Asia Pacific Studies. I also served as Chief Counsel for Toyota Argentina (1996-1998).

Awards: My research has received the 2016 Midwest Political Science Association Award for the Best Paper in International Relations, and the Bruce Russett Award for Best Article Published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution during 2022.

Research Interests: Globalization of production, commerce and finance has revolutionized the behavior of individuals and firms around the world. How do the changes in economic activity impact the taxing and spending priorities of governments? Using formal and quantitative analyses, surveys, and theoretically motivated historical narratives my research tackles this question from different angles. I analyze the various ways in which patterns of interaction between economic agents, foreign and domestic, and governments produce distinct economic and political outcomes at home and abroad.

My main lines of research could be organized thematically around six related areas: the political economy of foreign direct investment, sourcing and the activity of multinational corporations; the causes and consequences of economic integration; the role of ideology, socialization and self-interest in the formation of individual preferences towards globalization; the domestic and international determinants of growth, development fiscal policy and taxation; political representation, turnout and voting; and survey, formal and quantitative methods for social science research.

Publications: I explore the previous themes in my published work and working papers. I am the author of two books: Partisan Investment in the Global Economy published by Cambridge University Press, and Politics and FDI, a collaborative project published by Michigan University Press. My research has also been published in International Organization, Comparative Political Studies, Legislative Studies Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, Economics & Politics, Electoral Studies, Political Analysis, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Review of International Political Economy, Latin America Politics & Society, Journal of Risk and Financial Management, edited volumes and other outlets.

Contact: ppinto@central.uh.edu