He studies the political economy of development with an emphasis on distributive politics, public goods provision, and ethnic conflict. His current research uses satellite imagery of nighttime lights and other geo-coded data to show how the distribution of electricity is shaped by electoral politics across the developing world. He has also conducted research on ethnic politics and conflict, including the construction of the Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) dataset of politically relevant ethnic groups around the world from 1946–2005. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, and the International Growth Centre and appears in outlets including World Politics, the Annual Review of Political Science, and the American Sociological Review.