Paul Dragos Aligica

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Paul Dragos Aligica

  • Senior Research Fellow
  • Faculty Fellow, James Buchanan Center for Political Economy at George Mason University

Paul Dragos Aligica is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, a faculty fellow at the James Buchanan Center for Political Economy at George Mason University, and an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute.

His newest book, Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development: The Bloomington School (Routledge, London, 2009), co-authored with Peter Boettke, examines the work of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom and the ascendancy of the New Institutional Theory movement. His previous books include The Neoliberal Revolution in Eastern Europe: Economic Ideas in Transition, with Anthony Evans (Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, 2009); Prophecies of Doom, Scenarios of Progress (Continuum Publishers, London, 2007), and Paths to Property: Approaches to Institutional Change in International Development, with Karol Boudreaux (IEA Publications, Institute for Economic Affairs London, 2007). He is the editor of In Defense of Thinking: The Essential Herman Kahn (Lexington Books - Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009).

He has published in journals such as Comparative Strategy, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Revue française d’economie, Public Organization Review, Communist and Post Communist Studies,  International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Global Business & Economics Review, East European Economics, International Journal of Business and Globalization, East European Politics and Societies, Journal of International Relations and Development, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

In addition to his academic work, he has served as an expert to large international consulting firms and as an advisor or project partner to institutions such as the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, European Union organizations, and the United States Agency for International Development.

Dr. Aligica earned his PhD in political science from Indiana University, Bloomington. He also earned a PhD in economics from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and a PhD in sociology from the University of Bucharest.


PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Perpsectives on Politics
Book Review of

Book Review of "Economic Liberalism and Its Rivals: The Formation of International Institutions among the Post-Soviet States"

Paul Dragos Aligica | Dec 2009
This book is not only an important contribution to postcommunist studies. It is also a deliberate attempt to chart a novel theoretical position that challenges current orthodoxies from the perspective of a scholarly tradition whose growth seems to have reached a new threshold of relevance.
Research Paper/Study
Rethinking Institutional Analysis: Interviews with Vincent and Elinor Ostrom image

Rethinking Institutional Analysis: Interviews with Vincent and Elinor Ostrom

Paul Dragos Aligica | Oct 12, 2009
On November 7th, 2003, the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and the Institute for Humane Studies honored Vincent and Elinor Ostrom with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their pioneering contributions to the field of political economy through their work on institutional reform, common pool resources, self-governance, and a variety of other topics. In honor of this award, Paul Dragos Aligica interviewed the scholars on their work in institutional analysis.
The Review of Austrian Economics
Thought Experiments, Counterfactuals, and Comparative Analysis image

Thought Experiments, Counterfactuals, and Comparative Analysis

Paul Dragos Aligica, Anthony Evans | Sep 2009
This article discusses the problem of “thought experiments” in Austrian economics and takes as a starting point Lawrence Moss’ argument on the divide between the older Austrian economists— for whom thought experiments were crucial— and the new generation that, in Moss’ view, has “abandoned” such methods. The article is an attempt not only to bridge this alleged divide but also to contribute to the development of the Austrian methodology.
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WORKING PAPERS

Reducing Barriers to Entrepreneurship: Caveats on a Promising International Development Strategy image

Reducing Barriers to Entrepreneurship: Caveats on a Promising International Development Strategy

Paul Dragos Aligica, Johan van der Walt | Jan 2010
The constant effort to find a solution to global poverty has gone through many stages. Due to the disappointment with the results, new solutions and approaches have been sought continuously. The latest trend is defined by major switch of focus from the formal to the informal sector, from grand programs to local and administrative level approaches meant to improve the environment for entrepreneurs and small businesses. However, one will observe that this rhetorical escalation is not unique to this strategy and is part of a larger phenomenon in a field where new ideas that are offered as 'The Solution' come and go, often making a negligible impact.
Julian Simon and the 'Limits to Growth' Neo-Malthusianism image

Julian Simon and the 'Limits to Growth' Neo-Malthusianism

Paul Dragos Aligica | Apr 2009
By the time of his death in 1998 at age 65, Julian Simon had already established for himself the reputation of “doomslayer.” Whether one agrees with his views, an overview of his key arguments is an important step towards a clearer understanding  of the intellectual history and significance of one of the most salient and sensitive themes emerging on the public agenda during the second half of the 20th century.
Institutional and Stakeholder Mapping: Frameworks for Policy Analysis and Institutional Change image

Institutional and Stakeholder Mapping: Frameworks for Policy Analysis and Institutional Change

Paul Dragos Aligica | Dec 2005
Despite its importance and its widespread employment in policymaking practice, the theoretical and epistemic foundations of institutional mapping have not been elaborated and its legitimacy is yet to be fully granted by the academic community. This working paper is a contribution to this overdue effort.
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TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

Public Interest Comment

The Millennium Challenge Account: Property Rights and Entrepreneurship as the Engine of Development

Brian Hooks, Paul Dragos Aligica, Peter J. Boettke | Apr 13, 2004
"The Millennium Challenge Account: Property Rights and Entrepreneurship as the Engine of Development" is a comment submitted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University’s Global Prosperity Initiative in the public interest, with the hope that the recommendations it contains will improve the outcome of this momentous policy action.

MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Washington Post

Real-World Research Wins Nobel Prize in Economics

Paul Dragos Aligica | Oct 13, 2009
Paul Dragos Aligica was quoted in a Washington Post article that summarizes the research of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics winners, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson. "She challenges the top-down approach, the centralized approach to development," said Paul Dragos Aligica, a former student of Ostrom's who is now a senior research fellow at the…
TimesOnline

Elinor Ostrom and the Nobel Prize for Economics

Paul Dragos Aligica | Oct 12, 2009
The TimesOnline blog - Comment Central links to the Mercatus Center's 2003 interview of Elinor Ostrom by Paul Dragos Aligica.…
Reason Online

Elinor Ostrom on the Market, the State, and the Third Sector

Paul Dragos Aligica, Peter J. Boettke | Oct 12, 2009
Paul Dragos Aligica writes an article for Reason Online commending one of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics recipients, Elinor Ostrom. Peter Boettke is mentioned as his co-author of the book, Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development: The Bloomington School (Routlege, 2009). "When economists show that market arrangements fail, they usually make the simple recommendation that "the"…
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