Book Project

My dissertation book project explores public goods provision in informal urban settlements in Malawi. I focus on the role of informally elected local leaders, commonly known as block leaders, in shaping collective action and public goods provision in peri-urban neighborhoods that are largely underserved by the state. I argue that block-level elections confer legitimacy on these leaders, which in turn enables them to mobilize residents to collectively provide public goods such as street signs and neighborhood security. I also examine whether the presence of these internally provided public goods shapes residents' perceptions of tenure security in neighborhoods where the threat of eviction by local authorities remains real.

This research draws on a mixed-methods design that combines key informant interviews, original surveys, archival research, and an embedded conjoint experiment across ten informal neighborhoods in Lilongwe. In doing so, it contributes to broader debates on urban governance, informal leadership, collective action, and state-citizen relations in sub-Saharan Africa.