Kevin Keller

Kevin Keller studies the relationship between law and economic growth. Drawing on his training as an historian, he explores the origins of the legal rules that govern international economic exchanges, as well as the institutions that participate in those exchanges. He also studies public law from a comparative perspective and examines how leaders from across the world have attempted to build domestic legal systems that encourage economic development.

His work is global in perspective. He is interested in how legal rules arise, circulate, and change as they encounter on-the-ground resistance. This often entails tracing conflicts across time and space. To conduct this type of research, he makes use of primary sources in Chinese, English, and Spanish. 

His research has appeared or is forthcoming in the American Journal of Comparative Law, Harvard Law Review, Journal of American-East Asian Relations, and an edited volume on China-Africa relations.

He received a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a BA summa cum laude in Chinese from Arizona State University. He began his career in the international development sector, including two years in the Zambia office of IDinsight, an economic research and consulting firm.

For more information, please visit www.kevin-keller.com.