Roland Hodler

Welcome! I am currently a Professor of Economics at the University of St.Gallen and a Research Fellow at CEPR, CESifo, and OxCarre. 

I work in development economics, political economics, and public economics. Currently, I study how institutional reforms and economic policies can foster development in ethnically diverse countries, and explore the mechanisms through which search engines and social media may contribute to political polarization. 

My research has been published in journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and PNAS. It has also been featured by international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, BBC, The Economist, The Guardian, Le Monde, NZZ, and The Washington Post. 

For more information, please see my CV or send me an email.

News:

• September 2025: Our paper Mining for Peace is now conditionally accepted by the Journal of the European Economic Association.

• August 2025: Our work on web search personalization and ideological segregation is now forthcoming in the American Economic Review: Insights.