My research in the area of Environmental Politics  

One group of papers looks at policy responses to insure against future financial crises. I argue that when past financial crises are accompanied with political change, both domestically and in other countries, future governments accumulate higher levels of foreign exchange reserves.

Outputs:
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​McGrath, Liam F. (2017) Insuring Against Past Perils: The Politics of Post-Currency Crisis Foreign Exchange Reserve Accumulation Political Science and Research Methods 5(3): 427-446
​Beiser-McGrath, Liam F.   Protection From Your Neighbour’s Fate: The Diffusion of Reserve Accumulation Policies Under Review

This project examines how individuals' support for incumbent politicians depends upon past economic outcomes. While incumbent politicians can be judged on current economic conditions, there is no immediate information for the opposition. We argue that this leads to voters judging the opposition based upon how their party performed when previously in office. This serves as a benchmark against current incumbent economic growth.

Outputs:
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​Beiser-McGrath, Liam F. and Mark A. Kayser The Long Shadow of the Opposition: Electoral Benchmarking Against Previous Governments Under Review

This project examines the conditions under which international finance can lead to political instability. In research, co-authored with Kaisa Hinkkainen, we find that countries with access to external capital markets are less likely to experience terrorism in the event of financial crises, and that this is more likely to be domestic terrorism rather than international terrorism. In single-authored research, I examine under which conditions IMF programs lead to civil war. I develop and test a theoretical argument that governments who adopt an IMF program when there is no financial crisis signal weakness to potential rebel groups, leading to increasing rebellion.
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Outputs:

​Beiser-McGrath, Liam F. and Kaisa Hinkkainen. It Started with a Shock: When Do Financial Crises Lead to Terrorism Under Review
​Beiser-McGrath, Liam F. Weakness not Liberalisation: The Effect of IMF Programs upon Civil War. Working Paper