Research

My research centers on state responses to political threats and their enduring consequences. I leverage comprehensive area knowledge, proficiency in GIS, expertise in archival digitization, and statistical acumen to analyze how political elites react to both domestic and international threats. I investigate the policies they enact and explore the lasting consequences of their actions.

Books

  1. Popescu, Bogdan G. 2024. Imperial Borderlands: Institutions and Legacies of the Habsburg Military Frontier. Cambridge University Press. Read the table of contents and intro.
  1. Popescu, Bogdan G. The Knowledge Trap: Printing, Schooling, and the Costs of Empire. Under Review. Read the table of contents and intro.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  1. Popescu, Bogdan G. and Jugl, Marlene, 2025. Civic Associations, Populism, and (Un-)Civic Behavior: Evidence from Germany. Political Science Research and Methods. 13(1): 150-166. Journal Version | PDF

  2. Mağiya, Yusuf, Popescu, Bogdan G., and Tezcür, Güneş. 2024. “All the Sultan’s Men: Regime Type, Insecurity, and the Shuffling of Governors.” Comparative Political Studies. 57(13): 2087-2117. Journal Version | PDF

  3. Popescu, Bogdan G. 2023. “The Developmental Legacies of Border Buffer Zones: the Case of Military Colonialism.” Journal of Historical Political Economy. 3(1): 31-63. Journal Version | PDF

  4. Popescu, Bogdan G. and Popa, Mircea. 2022. “Imperial Rule and Long-run Development: Evidence on the Role of Human Capital in the Ottoman Europe.” Comparative Political Studies. 55(11): 1910-1946. Journal Version | PDF

  1. Cremin, Maura and Popescu, Bogdan G., 2021. “Sticks and Stones? Connecting Insurgent Propaganda with Violent Outcomes,” Journal of Conflict Resolution . 66(3): 504-528. Journal Version | PDF

  2. Albertus, Mike and Popescu, Bogdan G., 2020. “Does Equalizing Assets Spur Development? Evidence From Large-Scale Land Reform in Peru,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 15(2): 255-295. Journal Version | PDF

Working Papers

Frontiers of Resilience: Borders as Strategic Buffers (with Harunobu Saijo (Hiroshima University), Crystal Jing Xu (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Anna Zhang (Facebook))

Cuius Regio, Eius Religio: Indirect Rule and Conversion to Islam in the Early Ottoman Empire

God Save the Queen’s English! How Industrial Revolution Migration Shaped the English Language

Communism and Development: Legacies of Collectivization in Romania (with Leonid Peisakhin (NYU))