Noel P.

Johnston
Contact
Information

Blavatnik School of Government

University of Oxford
10 Merton Street
Oxford, OX1 4JJ

Email: noel.johnston@bsg.ox.ac.uk
Mobile: 07741896183
Web: bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/noel-johnston

Education

Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Political Science

Ph.D., Political Science, 2013
A.M., Political Science, 2009
Rutgers University, Department of Global Affairs
M.S., Global Affairs, 2007
Specialization: Global Political Economy
University of Washington
B.S., Physics and Astronomy, 2003
B.A., English, 2003

Appointment

Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University, Oxford, UK

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2013 - 2016
Nuffield College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Research Fellow, 2014 - 2016

Research
Interests

Politics of Foreign Direct Investment, Compliance with International Law and Institutions, Property Rights and Development, International Organizations, Politics of
International Trade, EITM Methodology.

Publications

1. "Political Risk, Reputation, and the Resource Curse" (with Nathan Jensen). 2011.
Comparative Political Studies 44 (6): 662-688.
2. "Can Public Goods Work As Vote-Purchasing Devices? Persuasion vs. Mobilization Under Clientelism" (with Guillermo Rosas and Kirk Hawkins). 2014. Journal of
Theoretical Politics 26 (4): 573-598.
3. "A Unified Model of Political Risk" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley).
Forthcoming at Advances in Strategic Management (AiSM).

Under Review

4. "The Capital Effects of Information Voids in Emerging Markets" (with Benjamin

Graham and Allison Kingsley). Revise & Resubmit at Journal of International Business
Studies (JIBS).
5. "Improving Reputation BIT by BIT: Bilateral Investment Treaties, Domestic Institutions, and Foreign Accountability" (with Chia-yi Lee). Revise & Resubmit at International Interactions.
6. "Political Risk and RealPolitik: The Politics of Compensation for Expropriation."
7. "How Sovereigns Steal: Political Constraints and the Choice Between Transfer and
Expropriation Rents" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley).
8. "How Taking from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz
and Paasha Mahdavi).
9. "Occupation and the Political Economy of Trade: Job Routineness, Offshorability
and Protectionist Sentiment" (with Erica Owen).

10. "Global Attitudes Towards FDI" (with Faisal Ahmed and Ida Bastiaens).
To be
(re)Submitted

11. "Crisis and Contract Breach: The Domestic and International Determinants of
Expropriation" (with Nathan Jensen, Chia-yi Lee, and Hadi al-Sahin).
12. "Information Sources and Foreign Investor Heterogeneity" (with Benjamin Graham
and Allison Kingsley).
13. "Expropriation, Punishment, and the Democratic Curse" (with Nathan Jensen,
Chia-yi Lee, and Abdulhadi Sahin).
14. "Confiscation, Compensation, and the Resource Curse."

Books in
Preparation

15. "The Politics of Compensation for Expropriation" Adapted from Dissertation.

16. "War, Seizure, and Dark Saturday Nights: A Unified Approach to Political Risk"
(with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley). Presented at Oxford 2013, APSA 2014,
and USC 2015.
Selected Works
in Progress

17. "Offshoring and the Politics of Openness Reconsidered: the Impact of Occupation
on Trade Cleavages and Policy Outcomes" (with Erica Owen). Presented at Oxford 2014.
To be presented at IPES 2015.
18. "How BITs Affect International Property Rights" (with Jennifer Tobin). Presented at
at APSA 2013, Georgetown 2013, Oxford 2013, PEIO 2014, WTI/DIE 2014.
19. "Who Needs Rules? Explaining Participation in the International Investment
Regime" (with Taylor St. John). Presented at APSA 2015.

Academic
Honors &
Awards

Washington University is St. Louis

Student Marshal, Commencement Ceremony, 2013
Chancellors Fellowship, 2013
James Schwartz Scholarship in Arts and Sciences, 2009
Center for New Institutions in the Social Sciences (CNISS) Fellowship,
2008-2010
Deans Summer Fellowship, 2008-2012
Deans Fellowship, 2007
Rutgers University
Eagleton Institute Fellowship in Politics, Finalist, 2005
University of Washington
Undergraduate Minority Scholarship, 1998
Other Institutions
American Political Science Association (APSA) Travel Grant, 2012
Summer Graduate Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies, June 2007

Teaching
Experience

Seminar Instructor, The Organization & Practice of Government (graduate (M.P.P.)),

Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Winter 2015, Winter 2016
Seminar Instructor, Evidence and Evaluation (graduate (M.P.P.)), Blavatnik School of
Government, University of Oxford, Fall 2013, Winter 2014
Instructor, Current Issues in International Affairs (graduate (M.A.)) (co-taught), University College, Washington University in St. Louis, Fall 2010
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to International Relations, Washington University in
St. Louis, Spring 2012
Teaching Assistant, Mathematical Modeling (graduate (Ph.D.)), Washington University in St. Louis, Fall 2011
Teaching Assistant, Research Design and Methods, Washington University in St.
Louis, Spring 2011
Teaching Assistant, Multinational Corporations, Washington University in St. Louis,
Fall 2010
Teaching Assistant, Game Theory in Science and Culture, Washington University in
St. Louis, Fall 2010
Teaching Assistant, Bargaining, Diplomacy and International Conflict, Washington
University in St. Louis, Spring 2009
Teaching Assistant, International Trade, Washington University in St. Louis, Fall 2008

Other
Research
Experience

Fellow, Center for New Institutional Social Sciences (CNISS), Washington University
in St. Louis, January 2008-2013

Graduate Associate, Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public

Policy, Washington University in St. Louis, February 2011-2013
Research Assistant, Andrew Sobel, Washington University in St. Louis, SeptemberDecember 2009
Research Assistant, Richard Langhorne, Rutgers University, May-November 2005
Non-Academic
Positions

Analyst, United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), July 2006-July 2007

Consultant, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), November
2005-August 2006
Intern, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), May-November
2005
Research Assistant, Quality of Life Studies Center, University of Washington Medical
Center, April 2004-January 2005

Presentations

"Offshoring and the Politics of Openness Reconsidered: the Impact of Occupation

on Trade Cleavages and Policy Outcomes" (With Erica Owen), International Political
Economy Society (IPES) Annual Conference, November 2015. [To be presented]

"Who Needs Rules? Explaining Participation in the International Investment Regime"

(with Taylor St. John), American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference, September 2015.
"How Taking from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz and
Paasha Mahdavi), Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia,
August 2015.
"How Taking from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz and
Paasha Mahdavi), Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, June
2015.
"The Capital Effects of Information Voids in Emerging Markets" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley). Harvard Business School, May 2015.
"Labor Mobility and the Politics of Openness Reconsidered: the Implications of Occupational Mobility for Trade Cleavages" (With Erica Owen), IR Colloquium, University
of Oxford, Department of Politics and International Relations, April 2015.
"FDI, Global Attitudes, and the Fallacy of Composition," (With Faisal Z. Ahmed and
Ida Bastiaens) Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Annual Conference,
April 2015.
"War, Seizure, and Dark Saturday Nights: A Unified Approach to Political Risk" (with
Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), Gould School of Law, University of Southern California, Invited Talk, February 2015.
"How BITs Affect International Property Rights" (with Jennifer Tobin), The Political
Economy of International Investment Agreements, World Trade Institute (WTI) and
German Development Institute (DIE), Bonn, December 2014.
"A Hiscoxian Model of Trade Preferences with Occupational Heterogeneity" (With
Erica Owen), International Political Economy Society (IPES) Annual Conference,
November 2014.
"Political Risk and RealPolitik," Department of International Relations and Pacific
Studies (IRPS), University of California, San Diego, Invited Talk, October 2014.
"Political Risk and RealPolitik," Nuffield College, University of Oxford, October 2014.
"How Taking from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz and
Paasha Mahdavi), Global Policy Policy Institute (GPPI) IdeaLab, Berlin, Invited Talk,
September 2014.
"Labor Mobility and the Politics of Openness Reconsidered: the Implications of Occupational Mobility for Trade Cleavages" (With Erica Owen), American Political Science
Association (APSA) Annual Conference, August 2014.
"International Constraints and the Sanctity of Foreigners Property Rights" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), American Political Science Association (APSA)
Annual Conference, August 2014.
"Labor Mobility and the Politics of Openness Reconsidered: the Implications of Occupational Mobility for Trade Cleavages" (With Erica Owen), Global Economic Governance (GEG) IPE Workshop, University of Oxford, May 2014.
"Political Risk and RealPolitik," Department of Politics and International Relations,
University of Oxford, Invited Talk, May 2014.
"Does Stealing from Foreigners Increase Quality of Life? How Expropriation Affects
Economic and Human Rights Across Borders" (with Nicole Janz and Paasha Mahdavi),
International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference, March 2014.
"How Stealing from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz
and Paasha Mahdavi), Global Economic Governance (GEG) International Political
Economy Workshop, University of Oxford, March 2014.
"How Stealing from Foreigners Affects Domestic Human Rights" (with Nicole Janz
and Paasha Mahdavi), BSG Faculty Workshop, University of Oxford, March 2014.

"Does Stealing from Foreigners Increase Quality of Life? How Expropriation Affects
Economic and Human Rights Across Borders" (with Nicole Janz and Paasha Mahdavi), Cambridge International Studies Association (CISA), University of Cambridge,
Invited Talk, February 2014.
"How BITs Affect International Property Rights" (with Jennifer Tobin), Political Economy of International Organizations (PEIO) Annual Conference, January 2014.
"How BITs Affect International Property Rights" (with Jennifer Tobin), Global Economic Governance (GEG) International Political Economy Workshop, University of
Oxford, November 2013.
"Information, Political Risk, and the Competitive Advantage of Banks" (with Benjamin
Graham and Allison Kingsley), Foreign Investment Workshop, University of Southern California, School of International Relations, October 2013.
"Information, Political Risk, and the Competitive Advantage of Banks" (with Benjamin
Graham and Allison Kingsley), International Political Economy Society (IPES) Annual Conference, October 2013.
"War, Seizure, and Dark Saturday Nights: A Unified Approach to Political Risk in
Foreign Investment Markets" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), Global
Economic Governance (GEG) IPE Workshop, University of Oxford, October 2013.
"BITs, Breach of Contract, and Compensation" (with Jennifer Tobin), American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference, August 2013.
"Natural Resources, Political Risk, and Regimes" VICORP, Natural Resource EConference, June 2013
"How Sovereigns Steal: Political Constraints and the Choice Between Transfer and
Expropriation Rents" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), 13th Strategy and
Business Environment (SBE) Conference, McCombs School of Business, University of
Texas at Austin, May 2013.
"Natural Resources, Political Risk, and Regimes" International Studies Association
(ISA) Annual Conference, April 2013
"Economic Shock, Political Shifts, and Sovereign Theft: The Domestic and International Determinants of Investment Expropriation" (with Nathan Jensen, Chia-yi Lee,
and Abdulhadi Sahin), International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference,
April 2013
"How Sovereigns Steal: Political Constraints and the Choice Between Transfer and
Expropriation Rents" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), International
Political Economy Society (IPES), November 2012.
"Economic Shock, Political Shifts, and Sovereign Theft: The Domestic and International Determinants of Investment Expropriation" (with Nathan Jensen, Chia-yi Lee,
and Abdulhadi Sahin), International Political Economy Society (IPES), November
2012.
"The Political Risk of Repatriating Profits: How Transfer Risk Affects Foreign Investment" (with Benjamin Graham and Allison Kingsley), American Political Science
Association (APSA) Annual Conference, September 2012.
"Bilateral Investment Treaties, Domestic Institutions, and Foreign Direct Investment"
(with Chia-yi Lee and Abdulhadi Sahin), Midwest Political Science Association
(MPSA) Annual Conference, March 2012
"Firms, States, and the Politics of Compensation for Expropriation," American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference, September 2011
"The Internationalization of Property Rights: Compensation for the Expropriation of
FDI," Comparative Politics Workshop, Washington University in St. Louis, April
2011
"Firms, States, and Compensation for the Expropriation of FDI," Midwest Political
Science Association (MPSA) Annual Conference, March 2011

"Political Risk and the Resource Curse" (with Nate Jensen), American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference, August 2010
"Natural Resources, Political Risk, and the Resource Curse" (with Nate Jensen), Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Annual Conference, April 2010
"Natural Resources, Political Risk, and the Resource Curse" (with Nate Jensen), Colloquium on Global Political Economy, Graduate School of Public and International
Affairs (GSPIA), University of Pittsburgh, March 2010
"Natural Resources, Political Risk, and the Resource Curse" (with Nate Jensen), International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference, February 2010
"Political Risk and the Resource Curse", Center for New Institutions in the Social
Sciences (CNISS), Washington University in St. Louis, November 2009
"Weak Supporters, True Believers, and Turnout: Machine Politics in the Absence of
Vote Monitoring" (with Guillermo Rosas and Kirk Hawkins), Center for New Institutions in the Social Sciences (CNISS), Washington University in St. Louis, September
2009
"Structures of Impersonal Exchange in Economics and Politics: Theory and Statistics,"
Center for New Institutions in the Social Sciences (CNISS), Washington University in
St. Louis, September 2009
"Impersonal Orders and the Logic of Large Collectivities," Summer Paper Series, Department of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, June 2008
Service

Students Advised
Charlotte Lau, M.P.P. Candidate, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, 2014-2015
Vivian Grassi Sampaio, M.P.P. Candidate, Blavatnik School of Government,
University of Oxford, 2014-2015
Ryan Dalrymple, M.P.A. Candidate, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, 2013-2014
Max Harris (Rhodes Scholar), M.P.P. Candidate, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, 2013-2014
Line Pedersen, M.P.P. Candidate, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, 2013-2014
Nick Turner, M.Phil. Candidate, Department of Politics and International
Relations, University of Oxford, 2013-2014
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Various interview panels and committees.

Washington University is St. Louis

Member, Graduate Student Council, Political Science Department, October
2010-May 2011
Political Science Representative to Washington University Graduate Council, June 2009-June 2011
Peer Mentor Committee, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, September
2010-June 2011
Graduate Student Peer Mentor Program Coordinator, Department of Political Science, September 2009-June 2011
School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Panel, May 2010, May 2011
Political Science Graduate Panel, November 2009
Graduate Peer Mentor, Department of Political Science, September 20082013
Rutgers University
Masters Student Representative, Global Affairs Graduate Council, January
2006-January 2007
Editor, Center for International Relations and Institutions, Roosevelt Institution, January 2006-May 2007
Speaker Series Organizer, Global Affairs Professional Development
Speaker Series; Dr. Craig Murphy (M. Margaret Ball Professor of International Relations at Wellesley College), Spring 2006
Reviewer
Reviewed manuscripts for: American Journal of Political Science (AJPS),
American Political Science Review (APSR), British Journal of Political Science (BJPS), Comparative Political Studies (CPS), Economics and Politics,
International Interactions (I I), International Studies Quarterly (ISQ), and
the Review of International Organizations (ROIO).
Multiple roles as Discussant and Chair
References

Randall Calvert
Washington University in St. Louis
calvert@wustl.edu
Nathan Jensen (Dissertation Advisor)
George Washington University
natemjensen@email.gwu.edu
Duncan Snidal
University of Oxford
duncan.snidal@politics.ox.ac.uk
Andrew Sobel
Washington University in St. Louis
sobel@wustl.edu