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Seminar: Matthew Baker (Hunter College)
As an Associate Professor in Economics at Hunter, Dr. Matthew Baker teaches Development of Economic Thought, Introduction to Economics, and Economics of Law, focusing on economic history, applied econometrics and cultural evolution.
Outside of Hunter, Dr. Baker has worked on predicting the incidence of health problems around the world using geospatial and economic data. His work blends information from fields like linguistics, geography, history and anthropology with econometric and theoretical techniques from economics, which he carries through to the classroom. Dr. Baker is also particularly interested in how cultural and social norms co-evolve with technological progress.
Dr. Baker's papers have been published in the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Growth and Journal of Labor Economics. He received his BA in economics from Wesleyan University and went on to obtain his MA and PhD from the University of Connecticut.
Presenting --
Title: "Empirical Global Games of Regime Change"
Abstract: Global games theory provides a tractable framework for analyzing coordination problems characterized by multiple equilibria, with regime overthrow serving as a canonical example. In political science, structural estimation of coup d’etat models has become an established empirical endeavor. This paper bridges these literatures by developing an estimable global games model of coup d’etat. The framework distinguishes between the feasibility and desirability of coups and can be estimated using simulated maximum likelihood. We show how distinct macroeconomic fundamentals shape regime strength and the perceived benefits of overthrow, thereby linking observable covariates to the underlying strategic coordination that determines regime stability.
Location: Hunter East 530 (in the library)
