Assoc. Prof. Quoc-Anh Do, Ph.D.

Capital Cities, State Capacity and Unequal Public Goods Provision

In his research, Quoc-Anh “Q.A.” Do uses both theoretical and empirical tools of economics to study situations of important non-market interactions and influences, in which agents' role and influences depend crucially on concrete or abstract distances between themselves, and between them and a center of power. The topics include, e.g., the role of the spatial distribution of population relative to capital cities, or social distances between students and their social preferences and influences on beliefs. They are divided in three major research directions, which are closely connected exactly through his research: Capital Cities: Geographical Population Distribution and Accountability; Corruption, Favoritism, and Connections; and Preferences, Beliefs, and Outcomes on Social Networks.
Notably, his first major research direction, started together with Filipe Campante, focuses on Capital Cities as the seat of political power, and investigates specifically the geographical distribution of the population relative to the capital in its importance to a country’s governance and political outcomes. The related publications and work in progress explore the idea that proximity begets influence, hence affects the government’s accountability.
During his stay at CESifo, Mr. Do will work on the most recent project in this research direction entitled “State Capacity and Unequal Public Good Provision: Evidence from District Splitting in India and Indonesia”. This project gathers a team of six researchers and covers two natural experiments in two major developing countries: The exogenous splits of districts and the consequences of the new subdistrict capital cities. The project highlights theoretically and empirically the interactions between two mechanisms of accountability and of state capacity. Mr. Do plans to present his research, interact with, and potentially develop new research projects with CESifo members and local scholars.
Quoc-Anh “Q.A.” Do is an Associate Professor of Economics at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Prior to joining Monash University, he was a Ford Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Illinois, Associate Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, France, and Assistant Professor at Singapore Management University. He obtained his PhD in Economics from Harvard University.