Specialization:
Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Migration, Displacement, Middle East Politics
Ph.D., Yale University, 2018
Education:
Yale University. Ph.D., Political Science, 2018
Harvard University M.P.P., Master in Public Policy, 2011
Bates College B.A., Political Science, 2006
Bio:
Daniel Masterson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studies migration, displacement, and humanitarian policy, with a regional focus in the Middle East.
He is a faculty affiliate at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Immigration Policy Lab (IPL), UCSB Migration Initiative, and the UCSB Center for Middle East Studies.
His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, J-PAL, Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), IPA, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the World Bank.
A number of media outlets have covered his research, including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The Economist.
Before joining UCSB, Masterson was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Immigration Policy Lab at Stanford University. He has a PhD in Political Science from Yale University, an MPP from Harvard's Kennedy School, and a BA in Political Science from Bates College.
Publications:
Select Publications
“Refugee Networks, Cooperation, and Resource Access.” 2024. American Political Science Review. Vol. 118(3) 1398–1414.
“The Dynamics of Refugee Return: Syrian Refugees and Their Migration Intentions.” 2023. British Journal of Political Science. Vol. 53(4) 1108–1131. With Ala Alrababah, Marine Casalis, Dominik Hangartner, and Jeremy Weinstein.
“Does Halting Refugee Resettlement Reduce Crime? Evidence the US Refugee Ban.” 2021. American Political Science Review. Vol. 115(3) 1066–1073. With Vasil Yasenov.
“Does Humanitarian Aid Reduce Anti-Refugee Violence? Evidence from Syrian Refugees in Lebanon.” 2020. American Political Science Review. Vol. 114(4) 1335–1342. With M. Christian Lehmann.
“Refugees, Mobilization, and Humanitarian Aid: Evidence from the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon.” 2019. Journal of Conflict Resolution. Vol. 64(5) 817–843. With M. Christian Lehmann.