Professor, Department of International Relations

Koç University, Istanbul

Caner Bakır is a professor of political science with particular emphasis on international and comparative political economy, public policy and administration, economics, finance and international business of the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics at Koç University.

Caner is the director of the Center for Research on Globalization, Peace and Democratic Governance (GLODEM).

He joined Koç University in September 2004 from Monash University where he was an Assistant Lecturer in its Accounting and Finance Department. Prior to this, he worked for Agricultural Bank of Turkey as a banking specialist.

His qualifications are Bachelor of Public Administration and Politics from the Middle East Technical University, Graduate Diploma in Money, Banking and Finance from Banking School, Master of International Political Economy from the University of Warwick, and a PhD in Politics from Monash University. He went straight into full-time faculty position at Monash following his doctoral degree.

He teaches the ‘Turkish economy and politics’, ‘Turkish Multinationals and international investment’, ‘political economy of globalization’, and ‘policy design and implementation’ at graduate and undergraduate levels.

Caner’s interdisciplinary and comparative research and teaching interests are in international and comparative political economy, money, banking, finance, and investment, public policy and administration, and international business.

Drawing on his analytic eclectic Structure, Institution and Agency (SIA) theoretical framework, Caner’s research has demonstrated that desired or preferred policy and/or institutional outcomes are most likely when multiple structural and institutional complementarities (from structures and institutions to agents) and multiple structural, institutional and agential enabling conditions accompany one another in motivating and empowering actors (from agents to structures and institutions) to engage in purposeful agential actions.

He is the associate editor of Policy Sciences, and  Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice. He is  editorial board member of Journal of Economic Policy Reform and International Journal of Emerging Markets. Caner is also a member of international advisory board for the series, Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy (SPEPP), Palgrave Macmillan.

Caner served as  the chair of The 2023 Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Best Article Adjudication Committee and The 2022 Charles H. Levine Memorial Book Prize Committee. He has been serving as The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Best Article Adjudication Committee Member (since 2018), and The Policy Sciences The Harold D. Lasswell Prize Committee Member (since 2017). 

He has been a visiting scholar at Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Strathclyde, University of Sydney, and Trinity College, Dublin.

Caner is the recipient of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Incentive Award 2010 and TUBITAK Early Career Researcher Award 2008. He also awarded 25% Salary Market Load (bonus) for “outstanding performance in research and teaching” by the Dean of Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, 2004.

He edited three SSCI journal special/themed issues, published 26 SSCI articles including top-tier journals, some of them named after their respective discipline such as Policy Sciences, Policy & Society, Public Administration, and Governance.

He authored five and co-edited four research books, and authored and co-authored 22 book, handbook and encyclopedia chapters. Caner has been invited as a editor for Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, co-guest editor for Policy and Society, and edited a special section for Uluslararasi Iliskiler Dergisi. He presented his work in over 50 international conferences/meetings. He has been invited 30 international academic presentations and workshops.

All of his research is supported by national and international research councils, including European Science Foundation, and TUBITAK.

Caner served as National Member of the Management Committee of the COST Action CA15207 Professionalization and Social Impact of European Political Science representing Turkey.

Caner’s funded international and national research projects and related activities include  the COST Action CA15207 Professionalization and Social Impact of European Political Science ; Fellowship for Research Abroad (2020). (TUBITAK) 2219. “Interactions among structures, institutions, and actors in the context of credit, financial stability and economic welfare: A comparative analysis of the Turkish and Mexican banking systems, 1980-2020” Fellowship for Research Abroad (2014). TUBITAK 2219. “Emerging Country Multinational Firm Behavior: Effects of Structure, Institution and Agency”, (EUR34,000); COST project (2010-2014). “Southern Multinationals and their Impact on Europe”, Action IS0905, European Science Foundation; Principal Investigator (2011-2013). TUBITAK 2515. “Turkish Multinationals: Motivations and Strategies, 2000-2011”, (USD120,000); Principal Investigator (2008-2011). TUBITAK 3105. Early Career Researcher Development Program. “Organizational Change in Economic Bureaucracy in Turkey, 1980-2010: Interactions with National and Global Dynamics”, (USD110,000).

His comments on the Turkish economy, financial system and central banking appeared in the leading newspapers and TV channels including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg HT and CNN Turk.

At the height of worldwide stock markets rally, in EkoTurk interview (in Turkish) on 21 February 2020, he clearly noted the then approaching global stock market crash and its adverse consequences.

Caner teaches graduate, Executive MBA, and undergraduate courses (i.e., Policy Design and Implementation, Global Political Economy; States and Multinational Corporations in Globalization process; Turkish Political Economy; Power, Interests, Institutions and Ideas in Politics; and International Business) in all three different departments (i.e., IR, Economics, and Business Administration) at Koc.

Prospective PhD students should directly contact me.