Robert J. Franzese

Robert (Rob) J. Franzese, Jr. (Ph.D. Government 1996, A.M. Economics 1995, Harvard University) is Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and a past President of The Society for Political Methodology. Much of his recent research, collaborative with Jude Hays, focuses on spatial-econometric models of interdependence, especially on the specification, estimation, and interpretation of empirical models that respect the profound, and distinct, implications of spatially distributed exposure, of spatial contagion/spillovers, and of endogenous formation of the connections between spatial units by which their exposure may be correlated and/or their outcomes contagious. Their several articles and chapters on these topics appear in methodological and substantive journals and volumes in political science, statistics, and economics. Beyond spatial-econometric models of interdependence, on which the two are also currently completing a book, Franzese's research focuses on other areas of empirical methodology, most notably methods appropriate for complex context-conditionality and for time-series-cross-section data, and substantively on comparative & international political economy. Combined, these research agendas have yielded 3 books and 28 articles & chapters in journals/volumes across these three disciplines (and five languages: English, Japanese, Italian, German, & Chinese), winning five best-paper awards, three for work in political methodology and two for work in comparative politics/political-economy.