Mark Kayser is Professor of  Applied Quantitative Methods and  Comparative Politics at the Hertie School, Berlin. His core research interests address the economic underpinnings of democracy, including political accountability, the effects of electoral competition on policy-making, and economic influences on electoral preferences. Previously, he was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Rochester, a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He is the co-author of a book on the effect of electoral systems on regulation and price levels (Cambridge University Press) and the author or co-author of articles in several leading journals, including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, Political Analysis and Quarterly Journal of Political Science.  He currently serves on several advisory and editorial boards.