Daniel Balke

I am interested in peace, prevention, and public goods. My research centers on the way in which multilateral development banks (MDBs) can use exceptional financing – cheaper loans and additional volumes of lending – to incentivize countries to pursue, agree, and consolidate peace accords to end longstanding sub-national conflicts with domestic rebel groups; to use scarce development resources to prevent or mitigate human-made and natural disasters; and to provide public goods, such as hosting refugees, that benefit not only their own citizens but external countries or groups. This research agenda will be grounded in a mixed-methods approach, leveraging qualitative and quantitative evidence and analytical methods rooted in political economy, comparative politics, statistics, and game theory. Its objective is to contribute to a framework that allows MDBs to more effectively deploy differentiated loan pricing and additional financing to address conflict, crisis, and cross-border challenges, which constitute critical issues on the future global development agenda.