Welcome to my website and thanks for stopping by!
I am postdoctoral researcher at Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen on the research project Origins of Descriptive Representation ODER. The project is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and led by Frederik Hjorth. In the project, we use machine learning to digitize all Danish elections at the candidate level since the constitution in 1849 and investigate the representation of women and workers throughout Denmark’s democratic history.
I received my PhD degree in December 2023 from Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. My dissertation is titled “More Than A Job? Essays on Public Officeholders’ Rewards and Representation” and examines political careers and political representation. You can read and download the dissertation here. My PhD supervisors was Lene Holm Pedersen (primary) and Jens Olav Dahlgaard (secondary). During my PhD, I have been visiting researcher at Copenhagen Business School and Harvard University.
My research interests relate to the composition and dynamics of the political class, and how political systems intentionally and unintentionally shape who we get as officeholders and how they behave. I use quantitative and computational methods, and I draw inferences by deploying various forms of quasi-experiments and traditional experiments. You can find my CV here and see my research below.
Please reach out to me at fkl [at] ifs.ku.dk if you want to get in touch.
Published and accepted work
The Gendered Cost of Politics with Lene Holm Pedersen. 2025. British Journal of Political Science, 55:e59.
Reward or Punishment? The Distribution of Life-Cycle Returns to Political Office with Jens Olav Dahlgaard and Nicolai Kristensen. Forthcoming, Political Science Research & Methods.
What Happens When Women Win Elections? The Electoral Returns to Increased Representation of Women with Benjamin Egerod, Lene Holm Pedersen and Jens Olav Dahlgaard. Forthcoming, Journal of Politics.
No Gender Bias in Audience Perceptions of Male and Female Experts in the News: Equally Competent and Persuasive with Katrine Greve-Poulsen, Rasmus T. Pedersen & Erik Albæk. 2021. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 28 (1), 116-137. Open Access version, Code and replication data.
Work in progress
Government Ideology and Gender Equality in Public Sector Career Progression with Lasse Aaskoven and Benjamin Egerod. Resubmitted to Political Science Research & Methods.
Career Rewards for Part-time Politicians. Under review.
The Gender of a Big Spender? The Causal Effect of Women on Agenda-Setting, Public Budgeting and Expenditures with Karl-Emil Svenningsen Bendtsen & Lene Holm Pedersen. Under review.
The Effects of Electing Working Class Candidates with Olivia Levinsen, Anna Lund & Frederik Hjorth.
Male Managers and the Promotion of Women in Public Service with Lasse Aaskoven & Benjamin Egerod.
Cherries on Top? The Effect of Ballot Ordering with Olivia Levinsen, Anna Lund & Frederik Hjorth.
Proximity to Parliament: The Representational Effects of Politicians’ Costs of Commuting with Frederik Hjorth.
Work in Danish
Stabil Politisk Tillid Trods Minksag og Coronapandemi with Rune Stubager. English: Stable Political Trust Despite Mink Case and Corona Pandemic. Book chapter in Partiledernes Kamp Om Midten (ed. Kasper M. Hansen & Rune Stubager), a book examining the Danish Election 2022.