Experts

David Leblang

Randolph P. Compton Professor
Leblang Current CV 7-16-18.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Director, Global Policy Center, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
  • Studies global migration and international investment and the spread of democracy
  • Expertise in international political economy, politics, economic policy, financial crises

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • Immigration
  • Economic Issues
  • Finance and Banking
  • Trade
  • Political Parties and Movements

David Leblang is the Miller Center's Randolph P. Compton Professor and director of policy research. He is also the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Endowed Professor of Politics and professor of public policy at the University's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where he is director of the Global Policy Center. He currently serves as interim associate dean for student experience and strategic initiatives in UVA's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

A scholar in the area of international political economy, he is currently working on two major projects. The first is a book-length study of the role that global migration plays in linking host and home countries and how these linkages help explain observed patterns of international investment, remittance flows, and the spread of democracy. The second project is related but focuses on the destination choices of refugees and illegal migrants. Prior to studying flows of migrants and refugees, Leblang's projects were in the area of global capital flows: the causes and consequences of exchange rate arrangements, capital controls, and currency crises. His work has been published in outlets such as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, World Politics and Economics and Politics. He currently serves on the steering committee of the International Political Economy Society and is the editor of SSRN's International Political Economy Migration eJournal.

Prior to arriving at the University of Virginia in 2008, Leblang held teaching positions at the University of Colorado, the University of North Texas, and the College of William and Mary. He has been a visiting scholar in the research department of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission's Directorate of Economics and Finance, and has been a visiting fellow at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, the Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano in Milan, and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. In 2015, Leblang was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award by the University of Virginia and in 2016 he received the Outstanding Mentoring Award from the Society of Women in International Political Economy of the International Studies Association.

Featured Publications

Ties That Bind
The Ties That Bind

David Leblang (co-author)

David Leblang News Feed

CNBC
Mnuchin flexes muscles on airline coronavirus aid — a taste of what other companies may face
“I would not undersell, especially in an election year the raw feelings associated with the bailouts that have come from TARP,” said David Leblang, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Virginia, referring to the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the financial crisis. “The optics are horrible if there are no strings attached.”
David Leblang CNBC
Coronavirus markets
The developing economic crisis and the pandemic
The Miller Center's Robert Bruner and David Leblang join David Smith from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce to discuss the economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as possible policy responses.
David Leblang Miller Center Presents
UVA Today
As economy struggles, what can we do?
Two years ago, University of Virginia professors Robert Bruner, David Smith and David Leblang teamed up to teach a class on the 2008 financial crisis, going over what happened in that crisis and how the country could prepare for the next one. Now they are turning their attention to the brewing economic crisis fueled by the global COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, Bruner, Smith and Leblang will lead a webinar, “The Developing Economic Crisis and the Pandemic,” hosted by UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, McIntire School of Commerce and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
David Leblang UVA Today
IJEH
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in complex humanitarian crises
Over 168 million people across 50 countries are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2020 [1]. Response to epidemics in complex humanitarian crises—such as the recent cholera epidemic in Yemen and the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo—is a global health challenge of increasing scale [2]. The thousands of Yemeni and Congolese who have died in these years-long epidemics demonstrate the difficulty of combatting even well-known pathogens in humanitarian settings. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) may represent a still greater threat to those in complex humanitarian crises, which lack the infrastructure, support, and health systems to mount a comprehensive response. Poor governance, public distrust, and political violence may further undermine interventions in these settings.
David Leblang International Journal for Equity in Health
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Community Commentary/Opinion: You can be a good neighbor and a global citizen during the COVID-19 crisis
Are you trying to decide what steps to take about the coronavirus? Maybe you are in an area where there have not yet been any confirmed cases. You may feel confused about the risk, embarrassed about people saying you are under- or over-reacting, or sad that you have to cancel a vacation. Instead of feeling confused or nervous, take action and make some changes and a preparedness plan. Here are the three levels on which to think about why that is a good idea.
David Leblang Charlottesville Tomorrow
Border wall
Border wars
Join Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear, Washington correspondents for the New York Times, as they discuss their new book, Border Wars, which provides an inside account of the defining issue of Donald Trump’s presidency: his steadfast opposition to immigration to the U.S. Davis and Shear have covered the Trump administration from its earliest days. In Border Wars, they document how Trump and his allies blocked asylum-seekers and refugees, separated families, threatened deportation, and challenged the longstanding bipartisan consensus that immigrants make positive contributions to America.
David Leblang Miller Center Presents