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Mike Tierney

Co-Director of the Global Research Institute and Hylton Professor of Government and International Relations at the College of William & Mary

mjtier@wm.edu

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Summary

Mike Tierney is the George and Mary Hylton Professor of Government and International Relations at the College of William & Mary, and co-directs William & Mary's Global Research Institute. His interests include international organizations, international relations theory, political economy of development and institutions, and foreign aid.

Education

Background

Dr. Michael Tierney is the George and Mary Hylton Professor of Government and International Relations, a founder of AidData, and Co-Director of the Global Research Institute, administrative home of AidData. In total, the Global Research Institute houses seven major research projects or centers. Mike served as a Principal Investigator on AidData’s five-year, $25 million cooperative agreement with USAID. His expertise includes international organizations, the role of IR scholars in policymaking, and the development role of the BRICSA countries and their impact on the global development regime.

Mike teaches on international relations, international organization, and international development. He has published two books: Greening Aid? Understanding the Environmental Impact of Development Assistance, Oxford University Press, 2008; Delegation and Agency in International Organizations, Cambridge University Press, 2006. He has published articles in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, World Development, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Review of International Organizations, Review of International Political Economy, International Studies Review, Foreign Policy, Journal of IR and Development, Politics and Gender, Environment, International Studies Perspectives, Law and Contemporary Problems, and International Politics. Mike holds a PhD in Political Science and Government from UC San Diego, and a BA in Political Science and Government from the College of William and Mary.

Website and CV

Expertise

International Relations, International Political Economy, International Development, Foreign Aid, Emerging Powers, Institutional Theory

February 7, 2019

Financier of first resort: China’s bid to be lender of choice for the developing world

In a new book published today, we examine how Beijing proactively seeks investment opportunities for its excess capital overseas to advance its national interests.

February 6, 2018

Rogue agent or team player? Beijing’s motivations for aid provision

A new study in ISQ pinpoints the factors that motivate Beijing to provide aid and other forms of government financing to Africa.

May 15, 2017

When does multilateral development finance provide better value-for-money?

AidData's Brad Parks, Mike Tierney, and Daniel Nielson highlight insights from their co-edited special issue of the Review of International Organizations.

April 18, 2016

Reflections on this week’s coverage in The Economist

In “Apples and Dragon Fruits,” we analyze the factors that motivate China’s provision of official financing from China to Africa. One of the core findings is highlighted in this week’s edition of The Economist. We’d like to take this opportunity to clarify our findings.

October 21, 2015

Chinese “aid” to Africa: Be careful comparing apples and dragon fruits

Western pundits have a narrative about China’s activities in Africa. But is this narrative true?

July 7, 2015

Achieving a “new normal”: Mapping the future of the AidData and U.S. Global Development Lab partnership

The “geospatial revolution” comes at a critical time as the global development community reflects on the post-2015 development agenda to end extreme poverty.

June 30, 2015

AidData/USAID GDL Series 3: Strengthening the “demand side” of data

AidData has collaborated with a network of more than 80 partners -- governments, multilateral institutions, non-profits, and the private sector, including engagements with over 25 USAID Missions and operating units -- to scale the “technology” of geospatial data and analysis.

June 25, 2015

AidData/USAID GDL Series 2: Making meaning out of data

Today, we briefly describe some of the research and technical activities that support our partners to make meaning out of data.

June 24, 2015

Working towards a “new normal”: AidData and the U.S. Global Development Lab’s efforts to accelerate uptake of geospatial data and analysis

AidData has been working in close partnership with USAID’s Global Development Lab to create a “new normal” where policymakers and practitioners ask themselves “why would we not use data and analytics to maximize the impact of every development dollar we spend?”

November 26, 2014

Diving into the Details: What “Aid on Demand” Says and Doesn’t Say About China in Africa

We're delighted to see that the paper provoked a fair amount of media coverage and debate among scholars. However, a lack of familiarity with the data, methods, and findings has led to inaccurate reporting and confusion. We’d like to briefly clarify several matters of fact.

June 10, 2014

Do Maps Matter in Aid Allocation Decisions?

Preliminary results from an AidData study indicate that maps may, in fact, lead to better targeting of aid dollars to reach those most in need.

January 22, 2014

Putting the Pieces Together: Building a Community of Practice to Track Under-Reported Financial Flows

Absent transparent accounting by emerging donors, alternative methods are needed to capture the scale, composition, and destination of their overseas development activities. Iterating better approaches will take equal parts innovation, experimentation, and collaboration.

January 21, 2014

How Tough is AidData's TUFF Methodology? New Evidence from Uganda and South Africa

Initial field research results revealed general agreement between the data on development projects generated via TUFF and ground-truthing fieldwork.

August 24, 2010

A Slow Tsunami of Assistance?

While other donors invest a larger proportion of their aid into humanitarian assistance and rapid response activities, Arab donors have traditionally been more active in the reconstruction phase of emergency response.

May 21, 2010

What Can the U.S. Learn from China?

A little competition may go a long way towards crafting a U.S. aid strategy that is effective, sustainable, and even more appealing than a Chinese sack of cash.

April 30, 2010

Eradicating Guinea Worm: What do our data have to say?

Using guinea worm as an example here are some points which highlight the strengths of AidData while also focusing on the need for further improved data in certain areas.

April 25, 2010

Arab Aid Isn't What It Used To Be...

As a proportion of either GNI or total government spending, Kuwait has reduced its aid spending.

April 13, 2010

Coming Soon: AidData.org v1.0.4

We wanted to update everyone on where we are with fixing various issues in both data and software reported by a number of our users.

April 9, 2010

What can AidData tell us about Haiti?

Nearly 30 non-DAC bilateral donors made pledges at the donor conference, and we’ll be working hard over the coming months to track these projects right here on the AidData portal.

April 8, 2010

AidData, IATI, and... Boats?

One of the most exciting developments in the world of aid transparency is the emerging data sharing standard developed by the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

March 20, 2010

Welcome to the First Tranche

While data is the centerpiece of the AidData initiative, we will be blogging about a variety of topics that are related to development finance.

Methodology

Tracking Chinese Development Finance: An Application of AidData’s TUFF 3.0 Methodology

Samantha Custer, Axel Dreher, Thai-Binh Elston, Brooke Escobar, Rory Fedorochko, Andreas Fuchs, Siddhartha Ghose, Joyce Jiahui Lin, Ammar A. Malik, Bradley C. Parks, Kyra Solomon, Austin Strange, Michael J. Tierney, Lydia Vlasto, Katherine Walsh, Fei Wang, Lincoln Zaleski, and Sheng Zhang

2023-11-06

Book

Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China's Overseas Development Program

Cambridge University Press

Axel Dreher, Andreas Fuchs, Bradley Parks, Austin Strange, and Michael J. Tierney

2022-05-05

Methodology

Tracking Chinese Development Finance: An Application of AidData’s TUFF 2.0 Methodology

Samantha Custer, Axel Dreher, Thai-Binh Elston, Andreas Fuchs, Siddharta Ghose, Joyce Jiahui Lin, Ammar A. Malik, Bradley C. Parks, Brooke Russell, Kyra Solomon, Austin Strange, Michael J. Tierney, Katherine Walsh, Lincoln Zaleski, Sheng Zhang

2021-09-29

Journal Article

Aid, China, and Growth: Evidence from a New Global Development Finance Dataset

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

Axel Dreher, Andreas Fuchs, Bradley Parks, Austin Strange, Michael J. Tierney

2021-05-01

Journal Article

Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects

World Development

Axel Dreher, Andreas Fuchs, Roland Hodler, Bradley C. Parks, Paul A. Raschky, Michael J. Tierney

2021-01-06

Working Paper

103

Connective Financing: Chinese Infrastructure Projects and the Diffusion of Economic Activity in Developing Countries

Richard Bluhm, Axel Dreher, Andreas Fuchs, Bradley C. Parks, Austin M. Strange, Michael J. Tierney

2020-08-19

Working Paper

Daniel L. Nielson, Michael J. Tierney

2003-01-01