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Associate Professor of Economics, University of Sydney

E-Mail: david.ubilava@sydney.edu.au

Twitter: @DavidUbilava

I am an applied economist with research interests in food and agricultural markets, climate, and conflict. My current research applies granular data to study fundamental societal issues that lead to or result from social conflict and political violence in developing countries.

My program of research is funded by the Australian Research Council.

I have published my work in leading field and interdisciplinary journals such as American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Peace Research, World Development, and Global Environmental Change, among others. As of February 2026, my research has received 1286 citations as per Google Scholar.

For my research, I have received the Research Collaboration Award from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in 2024, and the Quality of Research Discovery Award from the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society in 2025.

For my teaching, I have received the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award in 2017.

I currently serve as a co-editor-in-chief of Food Policy (from 2026), where I served as a co-editor (from 2018 to 2025). Previously, I also served as an associate editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (from 2022 to 2025), and an associate editor of the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (from 2020 to 2021).

I co-organize Social Conflict and Political Economy (SCoPE) workshop series.

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