• Political economy of distributive politics
• Social policies in the MENA region
• Crony capitalism
• Civil-military relations and coups

Ferdinand’s research focuses on the political economy of authoritarian rule in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in particular in the areas of distributive politics, cronyism, and the political economy of coup-proofing. His book project, Social Dictatorships: The Political Economy of the Welfare State in the Middle East, develops an explanation of social spending in authoritarian MENA regimes that emphasises the importance of early elite conflict under the constraints imposed by external threats and scarce resources. Underlining his comparative profile, he has published two articles on political budget cycles in developing countries, forthcoming in Studies in Comparative International Development and the European Political Science Review. Another strand of his research focuses on the effects of crony capitalism on trade protection in Tunisia and Egypt, and on the role of social spending as a coup-proofing strategy in MENA. More recently, he has started to work on the electoral sociology of Islamism

His regional expertise is North Africa, in particular Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt. 

For more details, please see Ferdinand’s full research profile: [link to personal website: www.ferdinandeibl.com].