Biography
Jerik Cruz is a PhD candidate in political economy, computational methodology, and comparative politics, whose research investigates the causes and consequences of the global rise of knowledge capitalism. His dissertation examines the governance and policy foundations with which developing countries, like China, India, and the Philippines, have emerged as powerhouse exporters of knowledge-based services since the end of the Cold War. In other research, he is studying the links between this global knowledge economy transition with the rise of illiberal populism in developing democracies, while combining both computational and historical methods to reassess political economy theories of trade politics and state/bureaucratic capacity. As part of such work, he is also developing new frameworks for integrating qualitative and computational social science research methods.
Before his PhD studies, Jerik consulted as a development economist 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. His past and present research has also been supported, among others, by the National Science Foundation/American Political Science Association, MIT GOV/LAB, the MIT Center for International Studies, the MIT Political Methodology Lab, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Southeast Asia Research Group, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
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)
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.
Biography
Jerik Cruz is a PhD candidate in political economy, computational methodology, and comparative politics, whose research investigates the causes and consequences of the global rise of knowledge capitalism. His dissertation examines the governance and policy foundations with which developing countries, like China, India, and the Philippines, have emerged as powerhouse exporters of knowledge-based services since the end of the Cold War. In other research, he is studying the links between this global knowledge economy transition with the rise of illiberal populism in developing democracies, while combining both computational and historical methods to reassess political economy theories of trade politics and state/bureaucratic capacity. As part of such work, he is also developing new frameworks for integrating qualitative and computational social science research methods.
Before his PhD studies, Jerik consulted as a development economist 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. His past and present research has also been supported, among others, by the National Science Foundation/American Political Science Association, MIT GOV/LAB, the MIT Center for International Studies, the MIT Political Methodology Lab, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Southeast Asia Research Group, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
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)
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.