Michael A. Gavin

Economist, Department of Finance

Government of Canada

Visiting Researcher, Graduate School of Public and 

International Affairs, The University of Ottawa​

In 2024, I will join the School of Political Science & International Studies at the University of Queensland as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor). Until then, I am a Visiting Researcher at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and an Economist/Analyst at the Department of Finance, Government of Canada.

I research the politics of IMF lending and central banking in emerging and developing economies. Why are national central banks pillars financial stability while the IMF remains a chastened institution? Why are populist leaders more likely to pressure their independent central bank? And do their pressure tactics succeed (hint: yes)? Why were the first central banks founded and does it have anything to do with war? These are some of the questions I address in my research.

My research has appeared or is forthcoming in Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, The Review of International Organizations, and ​​Environmental and Resource Economics.

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