Eik Leong Swee

Eik Leong Swee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics within the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, affiliated with the Centre for Asian Business and Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto (2010), an MSc in Economics from the National University of Singapore (2004), and a BSc with First Class Honours in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2002). Swee joined the University of Melbourne in 2010 as a Lecturer, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016, and to Associate Professor in 2024. His research specializations include political economics, development economics, economics of conflict, applied microeconomics, and peace economics. He teaches development economics at the undergraduate level and political economics at the graduate level. Among his honors are Dean’s Certificates for Research Excellence from the Faculty of Business and Economics in 2015 and 2016, Dean’s Certificates for Excellence in Teaching in 2013 and 2014, multiple Faculty Research Grants (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2024), and an Academic Research Fund Tier 1 from Singapore’s Ministry of Education (2022-2023).

Swee has published in leading academic journals, with his work cited over 550 times according to Google Scholar. Key publications include “Farewell President! Political Favouritism, Economic Inequality, and Political Polarization” with Hui-Pei Cheng (European Journal of Political Economy, 2024); “Little Emperors in the Workplace: Labour Market Consequences of China’s One Child Policy” with Yuyu Chen and Hui Wang (China Economic Review, 2023); “Fanning The Flames: Rainfall Shocks, Inter-Ethnic Income Inequality, and Conflict Intensification in Mandate Palestine” with Laura Panza (Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2023); “Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire: The Consequences of U.S. Weapons Sales for Political Violence” with Arvind Magesan (European Economic Review, 2018); and “Together or Separate? Post-Conflict Partition, Ethnic Homogenization, and the Provision of Public Schooling” (Journal of Public Economics, 2015, lead article). Since 2020, he has served as Associate Editor for the Singapore Economic Review and reviews for journals such as the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, European Journal of Political Economy, and Journal of Public Economics. Swee has contributed op-eds to The Straits Times, VoxEU, and The Diplomat, with research coverage in The Straits Times and Die Welt.

Professional Email: eswee@unimelb.edu.au