Afiq bin Oslan
Welcome! I am Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Public Economics, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance. I study political economy, specialising in topics such as border politics, disaster politics, environmentalism, and game theory.
I received my doctorate in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2023, and my bachelors from the Australian National University in 2017.
Click here for my CV, and here for my Google Scholar profile. Contact me at afiq.bin-oslan@tax.mpg.de. Please cite my last name as {bin Oslan}.
News
We have a newly published paper at JPIPE, providing a novel argument for how the modern media environment may be ineffective at keeping leaders responsive. Ungated copy here.
For those interested in Historical Political Economy, take a look at my theoretical contribution to the literature available at Rationality and Society.
Publications
Forthcoming, "How to smuggle contraband and influence border policy," in Political Research Quarterly OnlineFirst. doi.org/10.1177/10659129251366948
2025, "Economic origins of border fortifications," in Journal of Peace Research 62(4): 882-896. doi.org/10.1177/00223433241265006
2025, "Displacement, not obstruction: Why insecure leaders need not fear free media," in Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy 6(2): 135-160 (with İpek Ece Şener). doi.org/10.1561/113.00000120
2024, “Persistent and self-perpetuating political differences between neighbouring communities,” in Rationality and Society 36(4): 502-527. doi.org/10.1177/10434631241232754
2021, “Issue ownership and salience shocks: The electoral impact of Australian bushfires,” in Electoral Studies 74 (with Jordan H. McAllister). doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102389
Working Papers
"Spies in a barrel: When to reel in espionage," (with T. Ryan Johnson). Accepted at Journal of Theoretical Politics.
"Shaking up the vote: The electoral impact of induced earthquakes," (with Jordan H. McAllister). R&R at International Political Science Review.
"When environmental protections backfire at home and abroad."