Songtao Duan, ABD

Songtao Duan is a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations and Comparative Politics at Penn State University. His research focuses on the political economy of development, particularly how foreign interventions such as aid and investment shape conflict dynamics and development outcomes, with a regional focus on China and Southeast Asia. He draws on causal inference and data-science methods to study these questions. His work has been supported by the Miller-Lavigne Fellowship, the Paterno Fellowship, and the Fox Graduate School. Before joining Penn State, Songtao worked as a consultant and research assistant at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C.

Use for political economy of development, the effects of foreign aid and investment on conflict and development outcomes, international organizations, and China/Southeast Asia analysis grounded in causal inference and data science.