Matthew Amengual is a PhD candidate in MIT's Political Science Department, focusing on comparative politics and political economy. His research interests are broadly in state-society relations, regulation of the market, and democratic accountability. In 2006, Matthew conducted research in the Dominican Republic and Honduras, examining the way state labor inspectors and private monitors from multinational companies combine to govern labor conditions in export factories. Currently, his dissertation project examines how patterns of relationships among bureaucrats, unions, civil society associations, and firm associations influence the way labor and environmental regulations are implemented in Argentina. With support from the Social Science Research Council, he conducted 16 months of fieldwork in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Tucumán, Corrientes, and Santa Fe.
Before starting the PhD program in Political Science, Matthew received a Master in City Planning degree from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, and an A.B. in Environmental Studies from Brown University.
"Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic," World Development, forthcoming.
“Virtue out of Necessity?: Compliance, Commitment and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains,” with Richard Locke and Akshay Mangla, Politics & Society, Vol. 37 No. 3, September 2009, pp 319-351.
"Economic development and working conditions in export processing zones: A survey of trends," with William Milberg, International Labor Organization, 2008.
“Norms of Deliberation,” with Jane Mansbridge, Janette Hartz-Karp and John Gastil, Journal of Public Deliberation, Vol. 2 No. 1, 2006. Reprinted in Multiparty Negotiation, edited by Lawrence Susskind and Larry Crump, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, 2008.
"Oversight," in The Encyclopedia of Governance, edited by Mark Bevir, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA, 2006.