# Research

My current work explores two related questions: how institutions develop productive capacity, and how they shape people's interpretations of that capacity. I am especially interested in how people attribute contributions, judge whether a leader or organization is replaceable, and form beliefs about alternatives they cannot directly observe. I am learning to use formal models to make these mechanisms precise, while taking historical settings and the limits of each representation seriously. How institutions reshape people's standards of value remains a longer-term question.

## Questions
- How do institutions combine individual skills and resources into capacities that persist beyond particular people?
- How do institutions shape what people can observe and how they attribute the results of collective work?
- How do people judge whether an incumbent is replaceable when they cannot observe the outcome under an alternative arrangement?

## In progress
- [Formal theory](/research/formal-theory/index.md) — PhD-level course paper, Fall 2026. A planned PhD-level course paper in formal theory. The topic and mentor have not yet been determined. Topic and mentor not yet determined. Coming soon; paper not yet started and no abstract or manuscript available.
- [Economic institutions of capitalism](/research/capitalism-institutions/index.md) — PhD-level course paper, Fall 2026. A planned PhD-level course paper on the economic institutions of capitalism. The topic and mentor have not yet been determined. Topic and mentor not yet determined. Coming soon; paper not yet started and no abstract or manuscript available.

## Previous course research
- [The 1991 Neoliberal Shift in Bangladesh](/research/bangladesh-1991/index.md) — Course research, Spring 2026. A course research project examining the drivers of Bangladesh’s transition toward market-oriented policy and the role of party-state institutions. Project summary only; manuscript not included in this edition.
- [Chinese–Spanish Trade in Manila, 1589–1603](/research/manila-trade/index.md) — Course research, Spring 2026. An economic-history review of Chinese–Spanish maritime trade in Manila, approaching early-modern exchange in Asia from non-Eurocentric perspectives. Project summary only; manuscript not included in this edition.

These entries are not presented as peer-reviewed publications.

Content updated: 2026-09-26.