Joonas Taras
Research Topic:
Research
My research interests include:
- Examining the effects of political-institutional variables on the nature of digital capitalism,
- Understanding the dynamics of participation and its local development effects,
- Institutions and organisations,
- Public Policy,
- Political Economy
Education
- PhD candidate in Politics (Political Economy), 2016-..., University of Oxford
- MSc Politics Research with Statistics, 2014, University of Oxford
- BSc Government, 2013, London School of Economics
- BA Economics and Politics, 2012, Sciences Po Paris
Skills and Training Received
- Intermediate Quantitative Methods, R Labs (applied statistics), Qualitative Methods, University of Oxford
- Mathematics for Statistics, Mathematics for Economics, London School of Economics
Academic Teaching
- Quantitative Methods Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA), Oxford Q-Step Centre, 2020-21, University of Oxford
- Comparative Political Economy tutorials, PPE final year course, 2019-20 & 2020-21, University of Oxford
Research Assistance
- Research Affiliate, Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, 2018-19, University of Oxford
- Research Assistant for Professor L A Payne, LAC, 2017, University of Oxford
- Research Assistant for Professor R Zubek, DPIR, 2014, University of Oxford
Other Academic Activities
Political Economy Research Group, Chairs: Professor J Gingrich, Professor D Rueda, 2017-21, University of Oxford
Pembroke-King’s College Exchange, in Development and International Macroeconomics, 2013, University of Cambridge
Awards and Scholarships
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Estonia, Doctoral Fellowship, 2016-19
- National Thesis Competition of Estonia, Social Sciences, Master’s degree category, 3rd prize, 2015
- UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Studentship, 2013-14
- Clarendon Fund Scholarship, University of Oxford, 2013-14
- Young Scholar Grant, Ministry of Education of Estonia, 2009-12
Invited Talks and Conference Presentations
- Solving the Sharing Economy Challenge: The Case of Estonia. Presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) Conference at Stanford University, United States. June, 2018.
- Political Economy of Platform Policies: Who Wins and Why? Presentation at the Political Science Seminar Series at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. March, 2018.
Languages
- French (fluent),
- Spanish (fluent),
- Estonian (native),
- Italian (basic),
- Russian (basic).

Research summary
Publications
4. Taras, Joonas (2016). Participatory Budgeting in Brazil: Impact on Municipal Spending and Citizens’ Wellbeing. Tallinn: Digital Archive of National Library.
3. Diniz, Laura; Meunier, Frédéric; Mortada, Haya; Rakhimova, Parvina; Taras, Joonas (2015). Registering Property: The Paths of Digitization. Washington DC: World Bank.
2. Taras, Joonas (2012). New Wave of Enlargement: Is the EU Enlargement Fatigue Finally Over for This Time? Diplomaatia, 105 (5).
1. Taras, Joonas (2010). Mistral-Class Assault Vessels Sales Transaction in French Written Media. International Centre for Defence Studies (ICDS) Working Paper Series 10/2010.