I am Mate Malashkhia, a Postdoctoral Associate at the W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy at the University of Rochester. I received my Ph.D. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.  

My research lies at the intersection of political economy, formal theory, comparative politics, and international relations with a primary focus on non-democratic regimes. I examine how interactions among rulers, firms, opposition groups, citizens, and foreign actors shape economic and political outcomes in these regimes. A central theme of my work is that these actors’ strategic responses sometimes overturn familiar expectations about both what rulers can achieve through political power and how that power shapes citizens’ economic well-being and the prospects for regime survival. I complement my formal work with empirical research on the political legacies of war, as well as with an experimental agenda on protest mobilization and political communication.

I am on the 2026-2027 academic job market.