Lecturer/Assistant Professor

School of Political Science and International Studies​

University of Queensland

Michael A. Gavin

I am a Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the School of Political Science & International Studies at the University of Queensland.

I study the politics of central banking and the IMF. Why did some historical central banks lend to their government while others focused on assisting the private sector? Why is the IMF simultaneously viewed as indispensable and perpetually under-resourced? Why are populist politicians more likely to pressure independent central banks? And do those pressure tactics actually work (hint: often more than central bankers would like)?

My work combines formal theory, historical analysis, and the construction of original datasets to answer these and other questions. I have compiled data from central bank legislation dating back to the seventeenth century, thousands of Economist Intelligence Unit reports, and more than 3,000 country speeches delivered at IMF Annual Meetings. Across these projects, I find that political interests shape the design of financial institutions and, ultimately, their ability to generate credibility and stability.

I have articles published/forthcoming in the British Journal of Political Science (link coming soon!), Comparative Political Studies (also here), International Studies Quarterly, The Review of International Organizations (a second link also coming soon!), and ​​Environmental and Resource Economics. My research has also appeared in Bloomberg (paywalled, sorry).

My research uses formal modelling, original datasets, quantitative methods, qualitative field work, and case study analysis.

My UQ profile is here.