Faculty & Staff
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Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
781 Marietta Street, NW
Room 318
Atlanta, GA 30332 Phone: 404-385-0600
E-mail: mzak@gatech.edu
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Chair of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section of the APSA
Office Hours: MWF 2-3 or By Appointment
Mark Zachary Taylor
Assistant Professor
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.A., International Relations, Yale University
B.A., Physics, University of California-Berkeley
Research Focus
Zak Taylor, formerly a solid-state physicist, now specializes in international relations, political economy, and comparative politics. In his research, he seeks to explain why some countries are better than others at long-run technological innovation, even amongst the industrialized democracies. He uses statistical analysis of patents, scholarly publications, and high technology production data combined with country-level case studies, to test the relative impact of domestic political institutions versus international relationships on national innovation rates. He shows that while institutions such as democracy, markets, and property rights are important for long-run technological progress, certain kinds of international relationships are even more vital for the acquisition and maintenance of national scientific capabilities. He also contends that technological innovation is not a natural result of “good” domestic institutions, but is a rational response to specific sets of national security problems. These findings have important implications for theories of international relations and political economy, as well as immigration, education, and FDI policies.
In addition to his work on technological innovation, Zak’s research interests include the politics of science, comparative democratic institutions, and the politics of economic growth & structural adjustment. His research has appeared in the journals Foreign Affairs, International Organization, Harvard International Review, Review of Policy Research, and the Journal of Political Science Education.
Zak is the Book Reviews editor for the Review of Policy Research (RPR) published by Wiley-Blackwell. It is the official journal of the Science,
Technology, Environment division of the American Political Science Association. RPR is an international peer-reviewed journal.