Dr Maia King

Lecturer in Economics

Contact details

maia.king@kcl.ac.uk

Biography

Maia King is a Lecturer in Economics in the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London. She joined King’s in 2020 from the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford; and received her PhD in Economics from Queen Mary, University of London in 2017. Previously she worked as a researcher and consultant at the Overseas Development Institute; as an ODI Fellow in Liberia and Madagascar, and as a government economist at HM Treasury.

Office hours

Office hours are by appointment. You can book her e.

Research

Dr King’s research relates to the economics of governance institutions and social networks; public finance and budgets; climate policy and forest governance; the use of evidence in policymaking; and the responsiveness of policymaking institutions, including participatory approaches. She co-authored a book on the recent history of public expenditure control in HM Treasury, which won the MacKenzie Book Prize 2025. Current research projects explore institutions and power in forest governance, and local agency in foreign aid. A recent impact project developed a participatory decision mapping tool for locally led approaches in foreign aid.

View Dr King’s profile on Google Scholar

PhD Supervision

Dr King welcomes PhD applications on the economics and political economy of governance institutions, from applicants with at least two years of non-academic work experience. Potential applicants should first consult the DPE webpage on PhDs. E-mail enquiries should include a research proposal, CV, and information on expectations for timing and funding.

Latest publications

(2024) Walk-Independence Probabilities and WIP Centrality: a new heuristic for diffusion probabilities in networks Social Networks
With C Hood, I McLean, B Piotrowska (2023), The Way the Money Goes: The Fiscal Constitution and Public Spending in the UK Oxford University Press
With N Allouch (2021), Welfare targeting in networks Journal of Mathematical Economics
(2020) Why does local agency matter? Ownership, partnership, and decision spaces in foreign aid
With B Tarbush, A Teytelboym (2019), Targeted carbon tax reforms, European Economic Review
With N Allouch (2019), Constrained public goods in networks, Journal of Public Economic Theory
(2017), Whom can you trust? Reputation and co-operation in networks

Policy reports

With R Pinnington, P Kasaija, A Ntezi Mbabazi, N Gulrajani (2024) Understanding and addressing donor barriers to localisation in climate adaptation | ODI
With A Baguios, A Martins, R Pinnington (2021) Are we there yet? Localisation as the journey towards locally led practice | ODI
With M Manuel, A McKechnie, E Coppin, L Denney (2012) Innovative aid instruments and flexible financing: providing better support to fragile states | ODI
With L Wild, V Chambers, D Harris (2012) Common constraints and incentive problems in service delivery | ODI

Research

Quantitative Political Economy Research Group

The Quantitative Political Economy research group gathers economists and political scientists that are committed to bridging the two disciplines. The common ground is the study politics and policies with advanced quantitative methods and formal modeling.

Public Policy and Regulation Research Group

Public Policy and Regulation (PPR) is the home for theoretically and empirically grounded research which analyses policy and regulatory responses to important political, social and economic issues, and (individual-level) responses to these policies.

Centre for British Democracy

The Centre for British Democracy is interested in the study of government and politics in the United Kingdom from an historical, political science, political theory and constitutional perspective.

Global South Research Group

The Global South research group brings together scholars engaged in research on international political and economic trends, non-European perspectives, and south-south comparisons.

Fourth Annual Distinguished Lecture in Economics

Politics, Philosophy and Economics Research Group

The PPE research group studies questions spanning the disciplines of politics, philosophy, and economics.

Environment and Public Policy

The Environment and Public Policy Group

Social Equity and Social Welfare

The Social and Social Welfare subgroup delivers theoretically and empirically grounded research focused on gender and income inequality, social policy and social welfare, taxation, and redistribution.