Renato H. de Gaspi holds a BA in International Relations (with a focus on Economics) from Faculdades de Campinas - FACAMP in Brazil and a Master's on the same field from Zhejiang University in China.
In 2018, Renato joined Central European University to pursue a Master's in Political Science concluded in 2019 with a Political Economy certificate. His thesis focused on the impact of interest group coalitions on Industrial Relations in Brazil and Mexico.
In 2019, Renato H. de Gaspi joined the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy, and International Relations in the Political Economy track.
From 2020-2021, Renato conducted a series of interviews with relevant policymakers, businesspeople, and union leaders about the Industrial Policies implemented in Brazil after redemocratization. This was followed by a visiting period at King's College London in 2022 and one at Universidad Diego Portales (Chile) in 2023, where further interviews were conducted for a case comparison between Brazil and Chile.
Renato also served as co-chair of the Political Economy Research Group (PERG) during the 2020/21 Academic Year.
Renato focuses on topics related to the politics of Industrial Policy and Development and how those are affected by elections and interest group politics, with a special focus on Latin America. The dissertation project seeks to build a theoretical framework to analyze the developmental policies implemented by governments during the Latin American 'pink tide' and its political underpinnings. The main goal is to understand how elected governments craft (or fail to craft) developmental alliances to support their proposed policies and how they attempt to overcome the status quo bias of business elites in countries stuck on a developmental hurdle.
Renato's work has featured in Regulation and Governance and Third World Quarterly.
