Photo Credit: Astrid Duenkelmann, MPIfG
Chase Foster, PhD
My research is in comparative and international political economy, with a focus on the politics of market regulation in Europe and North America.
My interests include the relationship between competition law and the organization of capitalism; the politics of globalized regulatory enforcement; and the political economy of industrial policy.
I am currently a Lecturer in Politics at King's College London.
Research Interests
My research falls into three main areas:
1. The Political Economy of Competition Law
I am writing a book that examines the causes and consequences of the Atlantic Divide in Antitrust from the 19th century until the present. I have published work on competition law and varieties of capitalism, courts and competition paradigms, bureaucratic discretion and social learning, and the politics of policy implementation in the European Union. I am currently investigating the politics of globalized enforcement and the interrelationship between competition law and the organization of capitalism in the longue durée.
2. European Politics and Public Policy
I have published articles that examine the effects of the Euro-crisis on public trust in government, the economic determinants of public support for integration, and the politics of European financial regulatory reform. In a working paper, I analyse the relationship between labor market reform and support for European populist parties.
3. The Comparative Politics of Industrial Policy
With a collaborator, I have received an external grant to support the development of a new project on the comparative politics of business investment subsidies. In a working paper we develop an original typology to classify the diverse socio-economic logics underpinning subsidy programs. In November 2023, we presented our initial findings at the "New Thinking in Industrial, Innovation & Technology Policy," held at Columbia University.
Publications
"Compensation, Austerity and Populism: Labor Market Spending and Voting in 16 Western European Countries (with Jeff Frieden). Conditional accept at European Union Politics. Working Paper here.
“Coordination Rights, Competition Law and Varieties of Capitalism” (with Kathleen Thelen). 2025. Comparative Political Studies 58(6): 1199-1237. Pre-print version here.
Brandeis in Brussels?: Bureaucratic Discretion, Social Learning and the Development of Regulated Competition in the European Union” (with Kathleen Thelen). 2024. Regulation & Governance 18(4): 1083-1103.. Publisher's version.
"Legalism without Adversarialism: Public and Private Enforcement in the European Union,” Regulation & Governance 18: 53-72. Publisher's version.
“Varieties of Neoliberalism: Courts, Competition Paradigms and the Atlantic Divide in Antitrust.” 2022. Socio-Economic Review 20(4): 1653-1678. Publisher's version.
“Crisis of Trust: Socio-Economic Determinants of Europeans’ Confidence in Government,” (with Jeffry Frieden). 2017. European Union Politics 18(4): 511-535. Publisher's version.
“Economic Determinants of Public Support for European Integration, 1995-2018” (with Jeffry Frieden). European Union Politics 22(2): 266-292. Publisher's version.
“The Protectionist Politics of Globalized Regulatory Enforcement: Evidence from Cartel Prosecutions Involving Foreign Firms” [Under Review]. Preliminary draft.
