Experts

David Leblang

Randolph P. Compton Professor
Leblang CV (1).pdf

Fast Facts

  • Randolph P. Compton Professor and director of policy research at the Miller Center
  • 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.

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

Miller Center Presents
'Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom’
Voting can be done at the ballot box, but people often "vote with their feet," making choices about where to live. "Foot voting" happens by international migration, by choosing where to live within a federal system, and by making decisions in the private sector. In his new book, Free to Move, Ilya Somin explains how broadening opportunities for foot voting can greatly enhance political liberty for millions of people around the world. Somin contends that all forms of foot voting should be expanded and shows how both domestic constitutions and international law can be structured to increase opportunities for foot voting while mitigating possible downsides.
David Leblang Miller Center Presents
Donkey and elephant
Reaching across the aisle
Two Miller Center fellows from different parties, Mary Kate Cary and Chris Lu, explore the future of bipartisanship. Can the current health and economic crisis bring the two parties together, or is it just a temporary reprieve? And what are some ways that we can foster more bipartisanship in Washington?
David Leblang Miller Center Presents
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