Steven M. Oliver is a Ph.D. student in the Political Science Department at University of California, San Diego. Steven’s dissertation addresses the incentives of local government officials in the People’s Republic of China to manipulate publicly reported information on environmental quality as well as the consequences of their actions. This research further touches on the informational dilemmas faced by the leaders of authoritarian regimes and the challenges they pose to leaders in managing subordinate officials. While pursuing his PhD, Steven has been a recipient of the 2009 NSEP Boren Fellowship as well as the 2006 Department of Homeland Security Fellowship.
In addition to environmental issues in contemporary China and politics under authoritarian regimes, Steven’s research interests also span the field of security and international relations. Ongoing projects include examining the economic causes and consequences of modern maritime piracy in fragile and failed states. Steven has most recent published research on this topic in the Journal of Conflict Resolution. Prior starting his PhD, Steven worked as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratories focusing on questions regarding terrorism and insurgency.
