World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Award Badge
Economics and Finance
UK
2026
Award Badge
Political Science
UK
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Political Science

D-Index
115
Citations
75603
World Ranking
2
National Ranking
1

Economics and Finance

D-Index
115
Citations
75720
World Ranking
50
National Ranking
5

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Economics and Finance in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Political Science in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Economics and Finance in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Political Science in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2024 - Research.com Economics and Finance in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Economics and Finance in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Political Science in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Economics and Finance in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Law and Political Science in United Kingdom Leader Award
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2007 - Foreign Honorary Member, the American Economic Association
  • 2005 - Yrjö Jahnsson Award
  • 2000 - Fellows of the Econometric Society
  • 1994 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Timothy Besley is affiliated with the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. Their research primarily spans the fields of Economics, Econometrics, and Finance, with significant contributions also in Social Sciences.

Their work addresses a range of subfields including Economics and Econometrics, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science, Finance, and Demography. Major topics covered in their publications include Social Policy and Reform Studies, Culture, Economy, and Development Studies, Taxation and Compliance Studies, COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts, Media Influence and Politics, Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies, and COVID-19 epidemiological studies.

Among recent papers, the following stand out:

  • State Capacity, Reciprocity, and the Social Contract (2020) published in Econometrica
  • The Political Economics of Green Transitions (2023) published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics
  • Organizational dynamics: culture, design, and performance (2022) published in The Journal of Law Economics and Organization
  • Antitrust Policies and Profitability in Nontradable Sectors (2021) published in American Economic Review Insights
  • Pandemic responsiveness: Evidence from social distancing and lockdown policy during COVID-19 (2022) published in PLoS ONE

Frequent co-authors of Timothy Besley include:

  • Maitreesh Ghatak
  • Henry G. Overman
  • Mónica Costa Dias
  • Sacha Dray
  • Daniel J. Gottlieb

Publications are often found in these venues:

  • Economica
  • SSRN Electronic Journal
  • Econometrica
  • Fiscal Studies
  • LSE Public Policy Review

Besley's book publications include one with Corvinus University of Budapest titled Emerging Europe's chronic distrust: Lessons from the region's COVID puzzle (2022).

Awards received by Timothy Besley are as follows:

  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011)
  • Foreign Honorary Member, the American Economic Association (2007)
  • Yrjö Jahnsson Award (2005)
  • Fellows of the Econometric Society (2000)
  • Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1994)

Best Publications

  • Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana

    Timothy Besley

  • Incumbent Behavior: Vote Seeking, Tax Setting and Yardstick Competition

    Timothy Besley;Anne Case

  • An Economic Model of Representative Democracy

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate

  • The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India

    Timothy Besley;Robin Burgess

  • Group lending, repayment incentives and social collateral

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate

  • Incumbent behavior: Vote-seeking, tax-setting, and yardstick competition

    Timothy Besley;Anne Case

  • Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India

    Timothy Besley;Robin Burgess

  • Principled Agents?: The Political Economy of Good Government

    Timothy Besley

  • Centralized versus decentralized provision of local public goods: a political economy approach

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate

  • The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation, and Politics

    Timothy Besley;Torsten Persson

  • Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents

    Timothy Besley;Maitreesh Ghatak

  • Handcuffs for the Grabbing Hand? Media Capture and Government Accountability

    Timothy Besley;Andrea Prat

  • Does Electoral Accountability Affect Economic Policy Choices? Evidence from Gubernatorial Term Limits

    Timothy Besley;Anne Case

  • State Capacity, Conflict and Development ∗

    Timothy J Besley;Torsten Persson

  • Capital in the 21st Century

    Andrew Haldane;Rachana Shanbhogue;Orazio Attanasio;Timothy J. Besley;Timothy J. Besley;Timothy J. Besley

  • Pillars of Prosperity

    Timothy Besley;Torsten Persson

  • Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters

    Timothy Besley;Torsten Persson

  • Political institutions and policy choices: evidence from the United States

    Timothy Besley;Anne Case

  • Thy Neighbor's Keeper: The Design of a Credit Cooperative with Theory and a Test

    Abhijit V. Banerjee;Timothy Besley;Timothy W. Guinnane

  • THE ECONOMICS OF ROTATING SAVINGS AND CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate;Glenn Loury

  • Taxes and Bribery: The Role of Wage Incentives

    Timothy Besley;John McLaren

  • Retailing public goods: the economics of corporate social responsibility

    Timothy Besley;Maitreesh Ghatak

  • Nonmarket Institutions for Credit and Risk Sharing in Low-Income Countries

    Timothy Besley

  • Modeling Technology Adoption in Developing Countries

    Timothy Besley;Anne Case

  • Why Do Developing Countries Tax So Little

    Timothy Besley;Torsten Persson

  • ELECTED VERSUS APPOINTED REGULATORS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate

  • The Logic of Political Violence

    Timothy Besley;Torsten Persson

  • Sources of Inefficiency in a Representative Democracy: A Dynamic Analysis

    Timothy Besley;Stephen Coate

  • Health and Democracy.

    Timothy Besley;Masayuki Kudamatsu

  • Sales Taxes and Prices: An Empirical Analysis

    Timothy J. Besley;Harvey S. Rosen

Frequent Co-Authors

Torsten Persson
Torsten Persson Stockholm University
Stephen Coate
Stephen Coate Cornell University
Maitreesh Ghatak
Maitreesh Ghatak London School of Economics and Political Science
Robin Burgess
Robin Burgess London School of Economics and Political Science
Rohini Pande
Rohini Pande Yale University
Anne Case
Anne Case Princeton University
Vijayendra Rao
Vijayendra Rao World Bank
Ian Preston
Ian Preston University College London
Paolo Surico
Paolo Surico London Business School
Harvey S. Rosen
Harvey S. Rosen Princeton University

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Studying Political Science opens the door to numerous online degree options and career routes. Many students interested in understanding governments, societies, and cultures also explore history majors in college. History provides valuable context for political structures and decision-making.

For those aiming to blend fields, interdisciplinary studies graduate programs allow for a customized education experience, combining political science with areas such as law, business, or digital media. This flexibility often leads to versatile jobs in policy analysis, advocacy, or nonprofit management.

If research or education appeals to you, graduate options like online graduate history programs are ideal for those who want to deepen their understanding or prepare for teaching and archival work. Alternatively, advancing your studies in information science is possible with a library science degree online, offering pathways into library management, records administration, and data curation.

These related programs highlight the diversity of educational tracks and career opportunities available to political science students in the USA.

Best Scientists Citing Timothy Besley

Trending Scientists