Welcome to my website,

  I am a Senior Lecturer (≈ Associate Professor), Head of the Political Economy Research Division in the Government Department at the University of Essex, and Senior Visiting Fellow at the LSE Government Department. I am also an Associate Member at Nuffield College University of Oxford, a Research Associate at the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), and a Research Associate at Oxford's Latin American Centre.

  My research is in the political economy of development, with a focus on the role of money in politics and how policies can curb—or amplify—its influence. I also study corruption and political selection. My research uses causal inference methods and data science tools.

  Before academia, I worked at the Inter-American Development Bank as a research fellow evaluating development projects in the field across Latin America.

You can find my CV here.

And more about my research here.

Contact :

Email: nelson.ruiz[at]essex.ac.uk