SIMEON CHARAKA NICHTER

Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
                                                                      1727 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (415) 299-2764
snichter@wcfia.harvard.edu


ACADEMIC POSITIONS

University of California, San Diego
  Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science (commencing July 2012)

 

Harvard university
  Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (2011-12)

STANFORD UNIVERSITY
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (2010-11)

 

CENTER FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Non-Resident (2010-11)

EDUCATION

University of California, Berkeley
  Ph.D. in Political Science (2010); M.A. in Political Science (2006)
  Fields:  Comparative Politics; Latin America; Methodology
  Dissertation Title: Politics and Poverty:  Electoral Clientelism in Latin America
  Dissertation Committee: David Collier (Chair), Ruth Berins Collier, Henry Brady, Frederico Finan
  Distinction, Comprehensive Examination in Comparative Politics (2006)

  Awarded National Science Foundation and Jacob K. Javits Fellowships

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, John F. Kennedy School of Government
 

M.P.A. in International Development (2004)

  Ph.D.-level coursework in microeconomics,  macroeconomics and econometrics

  Course Assistant, “Economic Development” and “Advanced Econometric Methods”

  Received Harvard Merit Scholarship for academic achievement

  Awarded Caballo Prize for best paper on poverty at Harvard Kennedy School

CARLETON COLLEGE
  B.A. in Economics (1998)
  Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, and Dean's List
  Studied abroad in China (political economy) and Russia (culture and language)

 
PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  “Economic Determinants of Land Invasions”  (with F. Daniel Hidalgo, Suresh Naidu and Neal Richardson). 
  Review of Economics and Statistics 92 (August 2010): 505-523.

  “Small Firm Growth in Developing Countries(with Lara Goldmark). 
  World Development 37 (September 2009): 
1453–1464.

  “Economic Reforms and Democracy: Evidence of a J-Curve in Latin America" (with Jordan Gans-Morse)
  Comparative Political Studies
41 (October 2008): 1398–1426.

  “Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot. 
  American Political Science Review
102 (February 2008): 19
–31.

Working Papers

  “Electoral Clientelism or Relational Clientelism?  Healthcare and Sterilization in Brazil."  Paper prepared for    
  presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), 
Seattle, 
  Washington, September 3, 2011.

  Varieties of Clientelism: Machine Politics During Elections (with Jordan Gans-Morse and Sebastian Mazzuca).
  Working Paper Number 119, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University,         
  October 2010.  

  Declared Choice: Citizen Strategies and Dual Commitment Problems in Clientelism."   Paper prepared for
  presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA),
  
Toronto, Canada, September 5, 2009.

  prepared for presentation at the Annual National Congress of the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), 
  Chicago, Illinois, April 4, 2009.
 

  “Conceptualizing Vote Buying.”  Thesis for M.A. in Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.

 
Other Professional Papers
 
  “Understanding Micro and Small Enterprise Growth(with Lara Goldmark).  U.S. Agency for International  
  Development (USAID), November 2005.

  “Enhancing Productive Opportunities in Rural Pernambuco: Community-Driven Development in Brazil.”  Thesis
  for M.P.A. in International Development, Harvard University (KSG), February 2004. 

  Awarded Carballo Prize for best paper on poverty at Harvard’s
Kennedy School.

  “Understanding Microfinance in the Brazilian Context(with Lara Goldmark and Anita Fiori).  National Economic 
  and Social Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), July 2002. 
 
  “Entendendo as Microfinanças no Contexto Brasileiro(with Lara Goldmark and Anita Fiori).  National Economic  
  and Social Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), July 2002. 
 
 
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

Princeton University (2010-2011)
Postdoctoral Fellowship (declined), Center for the Study of Democratic Politics

 

University of California, Berkeley (2009-2010)

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award

Awarded to fewer than ten percent of Graduate Student Instructors at UC Berkeley

 

National Science Foundation (2008-2009)

Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant

 

National Science Foundation (2007-2010)

Graduate Research Fellowship

 

U.S. Department of Education (2005-2007)

Jacob K. Javits Fellowship (declined 2 years)

 

University of California, Berkeley (2006)

Distinction, Comprehensive Examination in Comparative Politics

 

National Science Foundation (2005)

Grant, Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM)

 

University of California, Berkeley (2004)

Graduate Fellowship and Power Fellowship

 

Harvard University (2004)

Manuel Carballo Prize

Awarded annually for best paper on poverty at Harvard Kennedy School

 

Harvard University (2004)

Master’s Thesis Award

Selected as one of best MA theses on development (presented by President of University)

 

Harvard University (2004)
International Summit of Achievement Delegate
Selected by Harvard Kennedy School deans and faculty

 

Harvard University (2003)
Research Fellowship
Awarded by Center for International Development for qualitative research in
Brazil

 

Harvard University (2002-2004)

Merit Scholarship

 

Carleton College (1998)

Certificate of Advanced Study in Foreign Language / Area Studies

Awarded for studies in Russian language and culture

 

 
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
 

University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2009)

Graduate Student Instructor
“Latin American Politics” (Upper-level undergraduate course)
Professor Ruth Berins Collier

Taught two sections, corrected papers / exams, and held office hours

Received “Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award”

 

University of California, Berkeley (Spring 2005)

Mentor, Undergraduate-Graduate Mentorship Program

 

Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government (Spring 2004)

Course Assistant

“Advanced Quantitative Methods II: Econometrics” (Graduate course)
Professor Robert Jensen

Taught special sections, graded exams, and held office hours 

 

Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government (Fall 2003)

Course Assistant

“Economic Development: Theory, Policy and Evidence” (Graduate course)

Professors Dani Rodrik and Mark Rosenzweig

Taught special sections, graded exams, and held office hours 

 

Carleton College (Spring 1998)

Tutor, Economics Skills Center

 

Carleton College (Fall 1997)

Tutor, Math Skills Center

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Consultant (2004-2005)
Worked on Accelerated Microenterprise Advancement Project

Conducted research on small firms in developing countries

Presented findings to USAID officials

 

 

 

World Bank (Brasilia and Recife, Brazil)

Graduate Researcher (Summer 2003)
Analyzed private sector development in rural Brazil

Conducted econometric analyses to examine project performance

Interviewed 30 rural communities and 20 officials (in Portuguese)
Presented findings to Brazilian government and World Bank officials

 

 

 

Development Alternatives, Inc (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 

 

Consultant (Spring 2002)

Worked on joint microfinance project of the National Development Bank
of Brazil (BNDES) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Interviewed 60 microentrepreneurs and 15 loan officers (in Portuguese)
Lead author of article on microfinance in Brazil

 

 

Monitor Group (U.S., India, Greece)

 

 

Consultant (1998-2001)
Worked for global strategy consulting firm advising large corporations

Collaborated with case teams to develop and present strategies for 11 client projects

Conducted hundreds of interviews of business elites and customers

Gained international managerial experience in Mumbai, India and Athens, Greece

 

3M Worldwide

Intern (Summer 1996)

Worked on environmental affairs in 3M headquarters

 

 

 
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS 


“Electoral Clientelism or Relational Clientelism?  Healthcare and Sterilization in Brazil."
  Paper prepared for    
presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), Seattle, 
Washington, September 3, 2011.

“Political Clientelism and Health Care in Brazil,” Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C., 
May 26, 2011.

“Politics and Poverty: Electoral Clientelism in Latin America,” Comparative Colloquium, University of California, Berkeley, November 12, 2010.

“Politics and Poverty: Political Targeting of the Poor in Latin America,” Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University, November 11, 2010.

“Political Clientelism and Social Policy: The Case of Brazil," Conference on Political Clientelism, Social Policy, and the Quality of Democracy, Quito, Ecuador, November 6, 2010.

“Varieties of Clientelism: Machine Politics During Elections” (with Jordan Gans-Morse and Sebastian Mazzuca), paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), Washington, D.C., September 3, 2010.

“Declared Choice: Citizen Strategies and Dual Commitment Problems in Clientelism,” paper prepared for presentation at the 68th Annual National Congress of the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago, Illinois, April 23, 2010.

 

“The Politics of Poverty: Political Targeting and Poverty Alleviation in Latin America,” Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, February 19, 2010.

 
"Declared Choice: Citizen Strategies and Dual Commitment Problems in Clientelism," paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), Toronto, Canada, September 5, 2009.

Who Gets Bought? Vote Buying, Turnout Buying and Other Strategies" (with Jordan Gans-Morse and Sebastian Mazzuca), paper prepared for presentation at the Berkeley-Stanford Comparative Politics Conference, Berkeley, California, April 17, 2009.

Who Gets Bought? Vote Buying, Turnout Buying and Other Strategies" (with Jordan Gans-Morse and Sebastian Mazzuca), paper prepared for presentation at the 67th Annual National Congress of the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago, Illinois, April 5, 2009.

"Political Cash Transfers? Redistribution, Elections and Bolsa Familia in Brazil" (with Claudio Ferraz), paper prepared for presentation at the 67th Annual National Congress of the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago, Illinois, April 4, 2009.

“Economic Determinants of Land Invasions” (with F. Daniel Hidalgo, Suresh Naidu and Neal Richardson), paper prepared for presentation at the Berkeley-Stanford Comparative Politics Conference, Stanford University, April 2006.

Economic Reforms and Democracy: Evidence of a J-Curve in Latin America" (with Jordan Gans-Morse), paper prepared for presentation at the XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15, 2006.

Enhancing Productive Opportunities in Rural Pernambuco: Community-Driven Development in Brazil," paper prepared for poster at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), Washington, D.C., September 2, 2005.

Enhancing Productive Opportunities in Rural Pernambuco: Community-Driven Development in Brazil," selected to present MA thesis to 200 students and faculty, Harvard University, May 2004.

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Yale University (July 2010)

Short course by Donald Green on designing, conducting, and analyzing field experiments


Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR)
Arizona
State University (January 2007)
A project of the Consortium on Qualitative Research Methods designed to improve qualitative and multi-method research in political science

Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM)
University
of California, Berkeley (June-July 2005)
An NSF-funded project designed to improve the integration of theoretical models and empirical research in political science

LANGUAGES

English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian