Bio
Rachel M. McCleary is director of the religion, political economy, and society project at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. She is a lecturer in the government department at Harvard, and research fellow of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
McCleary's current research is the comparative analysis of organizational change and church-state relations among U.S. based private and voluntary organizations in international relief and development from 1939 to present. She continues to work on cross-country studies on religion, religious beliefs, and aspects of economic development with Robert J. Barro. Their joint publications include "Religion and Political Economy in an International Panel," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; "Which Countries Have State Religions?" Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2005; "Religion and Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives; "Religion and Economic Growth," American Sociological Review Vol. 68 (October 2003)