Dr Adam William Chalmers

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), University of Edinburgh

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Research

Themes

My work sits at the intersection of international political economy, comparative political economy, and policy studies. Recurring questions include how firms and interest groups shape global and European regulation; how sustainability and financial rules diffuse across jurisdictions; and how text-as-data and machine learning can be used responsibly to study corporate reporting, consultation politics, and policy framing.

Recent projects span EU financial and sustainability governance, entrepreneurial development in East Asia and Vietnam, and democratic risks and opportunities linked to generative AI.

Funding

  • 2025 · Una Europa Seed Funding: “Democracy and AI” (Academic Lead, University of Edinburgh)
  • 2023 · ESRC Impact Accelerator: “Policy for Corporate Sustainability: Innovation, Diffusion, Impact (POLS)”
  • 2016–2019 · Open Research Area (ORA): “Agendas and Interest Groups” (ESRC / DFG / NWO)

Total competitive external funding secured (PI/Co-PI) is approximately £1.5 million; a full list is available on request.

Impact

2,064

Citations

21

h-index

25

i10-index

Via Google Scholar

Monographs

  • Berkhout, J., Bernhagen, P., Chalmers, A. W., McKay, A., & Leech, B. (in preparation). Who is Represented? Linking the Public, Interest Group, and Government Agendas in Four Countries.

Journal articles

  1. Chalmers, A. W. and Klingler-Vidra, R. (2026). The Goldilocks effect: How "just right" writing styles in global corporate responsibility frameworks shape business adoption. Regulation & Governance.Full text
  2. Bernhagen, P., Berkhout, J., Chalmers, A., Leech, B., McKay, A. (2026). Interest Groups and Effective Substantive Representation. Interest Groups and Advocacy.Full text
  3. Klingler-Vidra, R., Chalmers, A. W., & Wade, R. (2025). Who’s governing the market? Bringing the individual into the study of the developmental state. World Development.Full text
  4. Klingler-Vidra, R., Chalmers, A. W., & Tran, B. (2025). Post-industrialization and social inclusion: Elite access to high-performing entrepreneurship in Vietnam. Competition & Change.Full text
  5. Klingler-Vidra, R., Chalmers, A. W., & Pacheco Pardo, R. (2025). Communicating the societal value of the entrepreneurial university: Evidence from South Korea. Technology in Society.Full text
  6. Chalmers, A. W., Klingler-Vidra, R., & van den Broek, O. (2024). From diffusion to diffuse-ability: A text-as-data approach to explaining the global diffusion of Corporate Sustainability Policies. International Studies Quarterly 68(1).Full text
  7. Klingler-Vidra, R., & Chalmers, A. W. (2024). Entrepreneurial university graduates as drivers of startup-centric innovation policy preferences: Evidence from East Asia. Business and Politics 25(3).Full text
  8. Antoine, O., Atikcan, E., & Chalmers, A. W. (2023). Politicisation, business lobbying, and the design of preferential trade agreements. Journal of European Public Policy.Full text
  9. Chalmers, A. W., Klingler-Vidra, R., Aikman, D., Kuralbayeva, K., & Foreman, T. (2023). Sustainable Finance: The rise of the "E" in ESG. Global Policy.Full text
  10. Chalmers, A. W., Klingler-Vidra, R., Remke, L., & Puglisi, A. (2021). In and Out of Revolving Doors in European Union Financial Regulatory Authorities. Regulation & Governance 16(4): 1233–1249.Full text
  11. Klingler-Vidra, R., Hai, S. J., Liu, Y., & Chalmers, A. W. (2021). Is the Jack Ma trajectory unique? Assessing the place-based hypothesis on entrepreneurial success. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship 34(4): 419–442.Full text
  12. Chalmers, A. W., & Malik, T. N. (2021). Rule Omission, Rule Migration, and the Limits of Financial Industry Power in the European Union. European Journal of Political Research 60(4): 874–891.Full text
  13. Chalmers, A. W., & Macedo, F. (2021). Does it pay to lobby? Examining the link between firm lobbying and firm profitability in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy 28(12): 1993–2010.Full text
  14. Klingler-Vidra, R., Tran, B., & Chalmers, A. W. (2021). Transnational experience and high-performing entrepreneurs in emerging economies: Evidence from Vietnam. Technology in Society 66: 1–11.Full text
  15. Chalmers, A. W. (2020). Unity and Conflict: Explaining Financial Industry Lobbying Success in European Union Public Consultations. Regulation & Governance 14(3): 391–408.Full text
  16. Chalmers, A. W., & Young, K. L. (2020). Network Effects in the Formation of the Financial Industry’s Regulatory Preferences in the European Union. Business and Politics 22(1): 52–84.Full text
  17. Atikcan, E., Chalmers, A. W., Hurrelmann, A., & Viju-Miljusevic, C. (2019). Political controversy about international economic agreements: Lessons for Canada–UK trade negotiations after Brexit. International Journal 74(3): 453–462.Full text
  18. Chalmers, A. W., & Iacobov, A. A. (2019). The Stakes of Global Venue Shopping: Examining Bank Lobbying in the Basel Committee and the European Union. Interest Groups & Advocacy 8: 433–459.Full text
  19. Chalmers, A. W., & van den Broek, O. M. (2019). Financial Volatility and Public Scrutiny as Institutional Determinants of Financial Industry Firms’ CSR. Business and Politics 21(2): 240–266.Full textWinner of the 2019 David P. Baron Award for best Business and Politics article.
  20. Atikcan, E., & Chalmers, A. W. (2018). Choosing Lobbying Sides: The General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. Journal of Public Policy 39(4): 543–564.Full text
  21. Chalmers, A. W. (2017). When Banks Lobby: The Effects of National Banking Regulations on International Bank Lobbying. Business and Politics 19(1): 107–134.Full textRunner-up for the 2017 David P. Baron Award for best Business and Politics article.
  22. Dellmuth, L., & Chalmers, A. W. (2017). All spending is not equal: European Union public spending, policy feedback, and citizens’ support for the EU. European Journal of Political Research 57(1): 3–23.Full text
  23. Chalmers, A. W., & Mocker, S. T. (2017). The End of Exceptionalism: How Home-State Regulations Explain China’s Investment in Overseas Oil and Gas. Review of International Political Economy 24(1): 119–143.Full text
  24. Chalmers, A. W., & Shotton, P. (2016). Changing the Face of Advocacy? Explaining Interest Organizations’ use of Social Media Strategies in the European Union. Political Communication 33(3): 374–391.Full text
  25. Chalmers, A. W. (2015). Financial industry mobilization and securities markets regulation in the European Union. European Journal of Political Research 54(3): 482–501.Full text
  26. Chalmers, A. W., & Dellmuth, L. (2015). Fiscal Redistribution and Public Support for Regional Integration. European Union Politics 16(3): 386–407.Full text
  27. Berkhout, J., Braun, C., Carroll, B., Chalmers, A. W., Destrooper, T., Lowery, D., & Rasmussen, A. (2015). Interest Organizations across Economic Sectors: Explaining Interest Group Density. Journal of European Public Policy 22(4): 462–480.Full text
  28. Chalmers, A. W. (2014). In over their Heads: Stakeholder Involvement and Legislative Duration in the European Union. European Union Politics 15(4): 895–913.Full text
  29. Chalmers, A. W. (2014). Getting a Seat at the Table: Capital, Capture and Expertise in the European Union. West European Politics 37(5): 976–992.Full text
  30. Baroni, L., Carroll, B., Chalmers, A. W., Munoz, L., & Rasmussen, A. (2014). Defining and Classifying Interest Groups. Interest Groups and Advocacy 3(2): 141–159.Full text
  31. Chalmers, A. W. (2013). Regional Authority, Transnational Lobbying and the Allocation of Structural Funds in the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies 51(5): 815–833.Full text
  32. Chalmers, A. W. (2013). With a lot of Help from their Friends: Explaining the Social Logic of Informational Lobbying in the European Union. European Union Politics 14(4): 475–496.Full text
  33. Chalmers, A. W. (2013). Trading Information for Access: Informational Lobbying Strategies and Interest Group Access to the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy 20(1): 39–58.Full text
  34. Chalmers, A. W. (2011). Interests, Information, and Influence: Comparing the Influence of Interests Groups in the European Union. Journal of European Integration 33(4): 471–486.Full text
  35. Chalmers, A. W. (2006). Refiguring the European Union’s Historical Dimension. European Journal of Political Theory 5(4): 437–454.Full text
  36. Chalmers, A. W. (2004). The aporias of theory: negotiating the dialectical image in Walter Benjamin’s Arcades project. New Formations 54.Full text
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Selected publications listed above. Full record available upon request.