Biography
Jerik Cruz is a PhD candidate in political economy, methodology, and comparative politics, whose research investigates the political causes and consequences of the global rise of knowledge capitalism. His dissertation examines the governance and policy foundations with which developing countries, like China and India, have emerged as powerhouse exporters of knowledge-based services (e.g. software, AI, R&D services) in recent decades. In other work, he is studying the links between this global services transition with the rise of illiberal populism in developing democracies, while combining both computational and historical methods to reassess canonical political economy theories of trade politics and state/bureaucratic capacity. His past and present research has been supported, among others, by the National Science Foundation, the American Political Science Association, MIT GOV/LAB, the MIT Center for International Studies, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Southeast Asia Research Group, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
Before his PhD studies, Jerik consulted for international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Labour Organization, among others. He also served as an advocacy strategist on multi-awarded public health, land rights, and environmental justice campaigns in the Philippines, including the campaign to legislate and implement the Philippines’ Sin Tax Law of 2012, which is today funding the country’s universal healthcare program. He is a recipient of the MIT Open Data Prize, the MIT Homer A. Burnell Presidential Fellowship, and the Pralong Prize for graduate students in Switzerland.
Publications
Cruz, J. and E. dela Cruz (2023). Platforming Populism: the services transition, precarious urbanization, and digital platforms in the rise of illiberal populism in the Philippines. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economies, and Society. 16(2). Special Issue: The Power of Platforms: Precarity and Place.
Cruz, J. and E. La Vina (2022). “From Dependency to Autonomy: Local Governance, Fiscal Capacity, and the Outlook for Philippine Local Governments in the post-COVID era.” in Decentralization, Digitalization and Development: Strengthening Local Governance for Crisis Response, Recovery, and the SDGs. United Nations Development Program in the Philippines. (lead flagship report chapter)
Camba, A., J. Cruz, and G. Lim (2022). “Elite responses to US-China competition: Infrastructure and military modernization in Duterte’s Philippines.” in The Rise of the Infrastructure State: How US-China Rivalry Shapes Politics and Place Worldwide. J. diCarlo and S. Schindler (eds.). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Camba, A., J. Cruz, et al. (2021). “Explaining the Belt and Road in the Philippines: Elite Consolidation, Construction Contracts, and Online Gambling Capital.”in Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative. Liow, J., J. Hong, and G. Xue (eds.). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Montes, M. and J. Cruz (2020) The political economy of foreign investment and industrial development: the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand in comparative perspective. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 25(1): 16-39.
Mendoza, R.and J. Cruz (2020) Governing the ‘Golden Age of Infrastructure’ : Assessing Transparency Innovations in Philippine Infrastructure. Asian Politics & Policy. 12(2): 175-204.
Tuano, P. and J. Cruz. (2019). Structural inequality in the Philippines : Oligarchy, (Im)mobility, and Economic Transformation. Journal of Southeast Asian Economies 36(3) : 304-228.
Cruz, J. (2019). Great Transformations: The Political Economy of Megaproject Development in the Manila peri-urban periphery. in Making Sense of the City: Public Space in the Philippines. Barbaza, R. (ed.) Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press. pp. 1-40. (lead chapter; finalist for 2021/2022 Philippine National Book Awards)
Biography
Jerik Cruz is a PhD candidate in political economy, methodology, and comparative politics, whose research investigates the political causes and consequences of the global rise of knowledge capitalism. His dissertation examines the governance and policy foundations with which developing countries, like China and India, have emerged as powerhouse exporters of knowledge-based services (e.g. software, AI, R&D services) in recent decades. In other work, he is studying the links between this global services transition with the rise of illiberal populism in developing democracies, while combining both computational and historical methods to reassess canonical political economy theories of trade politics and state/bureaucratic capacity. His past and present research has been supported, among others, by the National Science Foundation, the American Political Science Association, MIT GOV/LAB, the MIT Center for International Studies, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Southeast Asia Research Group, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
Before his PhD studies, Jerik consulted for international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Labour Organization, among others. He also served as an advocacy strategist on multi-awarded public health, land rights, and environmental justice campaigns in the Philippines, including the campaign to legislate and implement the Philippines’ Sin Tax Law of 2012, which is today funding the country’s universal healthcare program. He is a recipient of the MIT Open Data Prize, the MIT Homer A. Burnell Presidential Fellowship, and the Pralong Prize for graduate students in Switzerland.
Publications
Cruz, J. and E. dela Cruz (2023). Platforming Populism: the services transition, precarious urbanization, and digital platforms in the rise of illiberal populism in the Philippines. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economies, and Society. 16(2). Special Issue: The Power of Platforms: Precarity and Place.
Cruz, J. and E. La Vina (2022). “From Dependency to Autonomy: Local Governance, Fiscal Capacity, and the Outlook for Philippine Local Governments in the post-COVID era.” in Decentralization, Digitalization and Development: Strengthening Local Governance for Crisis Response, Recovery, and the SDGs. United Nations Development Program in the Philippines. (lead flagship report chapter)
Camba, A., J. Cruz, and G. Lim (2022). “Elite responses to US-China competition: Infrastructure and military modernization in Duterte’s Philippines.” in The Rise of the Infrastructure State: How US-China Rivalry Shapes Politics and Place Worldwide. J. diCarlo and S. Schindler (eds.). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Camba, A., J. Cruz, et al. (2021). “Explaining the Belt and Road in the Philippines: Elite Consolidation, Construction Contracts, and Online Gambling Capital.”in Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative. Liow, J., J. Hong, and G. Xue (eds.). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Montes, M. and J. Cruz (2020) The political economy of foreign investment and industrial development: the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand in comparative perspective. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 25(1): 16-39.
Mendoza, R.and J. Cruz (2020) Governing the ‘Golden Age of Infrastructure’ : Assessing Transparency Innovations in Philippine Infrastructure. Asian Politics & Policy. 12(2): 175-204.
Tuano, P. and J. Cruz. (2019). Structural inequality in the Philippines : Oligarchy, (Im)mobility, and Economic Transformation. Journal of Southeast Asian Economies 36(3) : 304-228.
Cruz, J. (2019). Great Transformations: The Political Economy of Megaproject Development in the Manila peri-urban periphery. in Making Sense of the City: Public Space in the Philippines. Barbaza, R. (ed.) Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press. pp. 1-40. (lead chapter; finalist for 2021/2022 Philippine National Book Awards)