Research

My research interests encompass global environmental politics, democracy and authoritarianism, political institutions, political economy, causal inference, and measurement. I'm especially passionate about coming up with interesting and creative ways to advance social science research on climate change and decarbonization. I approach research with an interdisciplinary mindset and draw on political science, economics, statistics, environmental science, and other scholarly traditions in my work.

Refereed Journal Articles

Kakenmaster, William. 2024. “The Fossil-Fueled Roots of Climate Inaction in Authoritarian Regimes.” Perspectives on Politics. Forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592724000793.

Kijewski-Correa, Tracy, Debra Javeline, William Kakenmaster, and Angela Chesler. 2023. “Economic Incentives for Coastal Homeowner Adaptation to Climate Change.” Climate Policy 23(10), 1314-1326. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2023.2215207.

Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative Team. 2021. “A Systematic Global Stocktake of Evidence on Human Adaptation to Climate Change.” Nature Climate Change 11, 989-1000. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y.

Jordaan, Sarah M., Afreen Siddiqi, William Kakenmaster, and Alice C. Hill. 2019. “The Climate Vulnerabilities of Global Nuclear Power.” Global Environmental Politics 19(4), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00527.

Kakenmaster, William. 2019. “Articulating Resistance: Agonism, Radical Democracy, and Climate Change Activism.” Millennium: Journal of International Studies 47(3), 373- 397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829819839862.

In Progress

Rebuilding after Disaster in Haiti (with Debra Javeline and Tracy Kijewski-Correa).

Intra-Party Variation on Climate Change Positions in US House Elections (with Ben Francis and Rachel Porter).

Does Climate Litigation Reduce Corporate Emissions? (with Jim Moster, Lauren Oliver, and Ned Brose).

Human-in-the-Loop Algorithm Inference for Hierarchical Relationships among Latent Variables (with Annie Chen).

Behavioral Implications of Climate Policy (In)action: Evidence from Exposure to North Atlantic Hurricanes and Coal Mine Closures in the United States, 1970-2020 (with James Kirk).

Transitions to Democracy, Political Institutions, and Climate Mitigation: An Empirical Analysis (with Jack Stuart).

Democratic Consolidation and Climate Change Mitigation: Climate Policies and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in 163 Political Regimes, 1960-2014.

I recognize my presence on the traditional land of Native peoples, including the Pokagon Potawatomi (Pokégnek Bodéwadmik) and other first nations. These lands were the traditional territory of these peoples and continues to carry the stories of their struggles for survival and identity. I honor with gratitude the land itself and those who have stewarded it throughout the generations and continue to do so.