Leopoldo Biffi

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University. I hold a PhD in Political Science from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

I study the political economy of international trade and investment governance and the politics of institutional formation and design. I consider how domestic factors like veto players, constitutional aspects, and economic interests shape international economic cooperation, and how international institutions adapt to cooperation challenges.

My doctoral dissertation looks at the institutional design of trade and investment agreements. It explores how these treaties innovate their design to tackle cooperation problems like uncertainty, political risk, and regulatory harmonization. My broader research interests include international organizations, investment screening, digital and technology regulation, causal inference, computational methods, and the European Union.

I hold a BA in International Relations (First Class Honours) from King’s College London and an MA in Political Science from the Geneva Graduate Institute.