The Research Area Political Economy of Development emphasizes interdisciplinary research examining themes such as political accountability, distributive politics, ethnic conflict, and political violence in the developing world.

The Research Area Political Economy of Development consists of the following research units:

• the Research Department Institutions and Political Inequality (Prof. Macartan Humphreys, Ph.D.)

The following Visiting Research Professorship is also located in this research area:

• the Visiting Research Professorship Political Inequality and Identity Politics (Prof. Kimuli Kasara, Ph.D.)