Mark’s research has appeared in top journals across multiple disciplines, including Psychological Science, Philosophical Psychology, Journal of European Public Policy, Fiscal Studies, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and European Journal for the Philosophy of Science. His PhD was published by Oxford University Press as A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing in their Philosophy, Politics, and Economics series. He is editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing.
94 publications
Fabian, M. (2025). Beyond Happy: How to Rethink Happiness and Find Fulfilment. Bedford Square.
Fabian, M. (2022). A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing. Oxford University Press.
Fabian, M. and Breunig, R. (2018). Hybrid Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond Ideology. Routledge.
Fabian, M. (2024). The Ethics of Wellbeing. In Brockmann, H. & Fernandez Urbano, R. (eds.), Elgar Encyclopaedia of Happiness, Quality of Life, and Subjective Wellbeing.
Fabian, M. (2024). The Epistemology of Wellbeing. In Brockmann, H. & Fernandez Urbano, R. (eds.), Elgar Encyclopaedia of Happiness, Quality of Life, and Subjective Wellbeing.
Fabian. M. (2018). The Ends and Means of Public Policy. In M. Fabian and R. Breunig (eds.), Hybrid Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond Ideology. London, UK: Routledge.
Wilkinson, J. & Fabian, M. (2026). Bricolage in local government perspectives on cycling infrastructure. Mobilities, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 894-911.
Fabian, M. and Dold, M. (2025). Agentic Preferences: A Conditional Defence of Nudges When Preferences are Endogenous. Behavioural Public Policy, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 249–269.
Dold, M., Emmerick, E. & Fabian, M. (2024). Taking Psychology Seriously? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Sugden's Opportunity Criterion. Online first in Journal of Economic Methodology.
Fabian, M., Alexandrova, A., Agarwala, M., Coyle, D., Fabian, M. & Felici, M. (2024). Well-Being Public Policy Needs More Theory. International Journal of Wellbeing, vol. 14, no. 3.
Cinamon Nair, Y. & Fabian, M. (2024). The value of researcher reflexivity in the coproduction of public policy: A practical perspective. Online first in Journal of Medical Humanities.
Fabian, M. Alexandrova, A., and Cinamon-Nair, Y. (2024). Coproducing Wellbeing Public Policy: A Theory of Thriving in Financial Hardship. Journal of Happiness Studies, 24(7): 2309–2330.
Coyle, D., Fabian, M., Besley, T., M., Stevens, M. & Beinhocker, E. (2023). Rebooting Normative Economics. Fiscal Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 105-220.
Cooper, C., Fabian, M., & Krekel, C. (2023). New Approaches to Measuring Economic Welfare. Fiscal Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 123-135.
Fabian, M., Breunig, R. and De Neve, J. (2023). Worldview defense and self-determination theory explain the return of racial voting: Evidence from the 2016 US election. European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 147 - 166.
Fabian, M., Agarwala, M., Alexandrova, A., Coyle, D., and Felici, M. (2022). Respecting the Subject in Well-Being Policy: Beyond the Social Planner Perspective. Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 1494 - 1517.
Fabian, M. A Psychologically-Enriched Version of Tiberius' Theory of Well-Being as Value-Fulfilment. (2022). Philosophical Psychology, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 862 - 886.
Foa, R. S., Fabian, M. and Gilbert, S. (2022). COVID-19 and Subjective Well-Being: Separating the Effects of Lockdowns from the Pandemic. PLoS ONE, vol. 17, no. 2, e0163570.
Alexandrova, A. and Fabian, M. (2022). Democratising Measurement: or Why Thick Concepts Call for Coproduction. European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 1-23.
Fabian, M. and Pykett, J. (2021). Be Happy: Navigating Normative Issues in Behavioural and Well-Being Public Policy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 169 - 182.
Fabian, M. Scale Norming Makes Welfare Analysis with Life Satisfaction Data Difficult. (2021). Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1509-1541.
Fabian, M. (2021). DevSim: A PowerPoint-Based Simulator Game for Teaching Economic Development. Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 95 - 105.
Fabian, M. (2021). Improving Interdisciplinary Research in Well-Being - A Review, with Further Comments, of Bishop's The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 2829-2844.
Fabian, M. (2020) The Coalescence of Being: A Model of the Self-Actualization Process. Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1487 - 1508. doi: 10.1007/s10902-019-00141-7.
Fabian, M. and Breunig, R. (2019). Long Work-Hours and Job Satisfaction: Do Overworkers Get Trapped in Bad Jobs? Social Science Quarterly, vol. 100, no. 5, pp. 1932 - 1956. doi: 10.1111/ssqu.12648.
Fabian, M. (2018). Racing from Subjective Well-Being to Public Policy: A Review of The Origins of Happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 2011 - 2026. doi: 10.1007/s10902-018-0019-7.
Fabian, M. & Alexandrova, A. (2022). When, Why, and How to do Coproduction in Wellbeing Policy and Practice. What Works Centre for Wellbeing Methods Paper.
Seivwright, A., Kolchar, S., Fabian, M. & Lester, L. (2022). Towards a Shared Understanding and Articulation of a Common Population Outcomes Framework. Report for the Tasmanian Government Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Alexandrova, A. & Fabian, M. (2021). The Science of Wellbeing. John Templeton Foundation.
Fabian, M. (2020). How Can the Middle Class Flourish in the 21st Century? Insights from the Science of Well-Being. Brookings Institution Future of the Middle Class Project Background Papers.
Fabian, M., Kaiser, C., Funk, S., Panasiuk, S. & Brett, C. Evidence Against the Simple Statistical Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales from Long Form Cognitive Interviews. Revise and resubmit at Psychological Science. Working Paper
Fabian, M. & Franco, V. Clarifying the Concept of Psychological Richness: Is it Part of Subjective Well-Being? Working paper
Burton, R. & Fabian, M. Policy approaches to counteracting online mysogynistic radicalisation of young men: A labelling theory perspective.
The economy as an evolving complex system IV, by Maria Del Rio-Chanona et al. (Santa Fe Institute Press, Sante Fe, NM, 2026), pp. vii + 1118.
The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy, by Nick Romeo (Basic Books, London, 2024), pp. 372. Economic Record, vol. 102, no. 336, pp. 140-142.
Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic Against Workers and How Workers Can Take it Back, by Elizabeth Anderson (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2023), pp. xviii +369. In Economic Record, 101(333): 233-235
Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values, by Blackhouse, Baujard & Nishizawa (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 2023), pp. ix + 338). Oeconomica, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 1305 - 1309.
Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like? By Daniel Chandler (Allen Lane, London, UK, 2023), pp. v + 403. Economic Record, vol. 99, no. 327, pp. 573 - 576.
Public Spending and the Role of the State: History, Performance, Risks and Remedies, by Ludger Schuknecht, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 2021), pp. xx + 283. Online first at Economic Record.
Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, by Ashley Whillans, (Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, MA, 2020), pp. viii +184. International Journal of Happiness and Development, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 439-440.
A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being, by Anna Alexandrova, (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2017), pp. xiii + 196. Economic Record, vol. 95, no. 310, pp. 389 – 392
Happiness For All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American dream, by Carol Graham, (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2017), pp. xv + 192. Economic Record, vol. 94, no. 304, pp. 104-106
Stability of Happiness: Theories and Evidence on Whether Happiness can Change, by Kennon M. Sheldon and Richard E. Lucas eds. (Elsevier Academic Press, Oxford, UK, 2014) pp. xvi + 317. Economic Record, vol. 92, no. 297
Happiness and Economic Growth: Lessons from developing countries by Andrew E. Clark and Claudia Senik (Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2014), pp. xiv + 277. Economic Record, vol. 92 no. 296
Why Gender Matters in Economics by Mukesh Eswaran (Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ), pp. xii + 392. Economic Record, vol.91, no. 292
Measuring Happiness: The Economics of Wellbeing, by Joachim Weimann, Andreas Knabe and Ronnie Schob (MIT Press, Cambridge: MA, 2015) pp. x + 212. Economic Record, vol. 91 no. 294
Fabian, M. & Prinzing, M. (2027). Working with stakeholders to develop value-laden concepts in psychological science. Commissioned for Personality and Social Psychology Compass.
Fabian, M. The Wellbeing State: Public Policy for the 21st Century. Book Project.
Fabian, M., Fleming, W., Wdowin, J. & Pountney, L. Coproducing wellbeing public policy at different scales: Implications for policy design, measurement, management, and evaluation.
Fabian, M. & Panasiuk, S. What is Life Satisfaction? Is it a Network? An idiographic Analysis of 100 Long Form Cognitive Interviews.
Fabian, M. & Fleming, W. Institutionalising the sociological imagination in public policy through coproduction: What can we learn from charities?
Make the hedonic treadmill a place you want to be, Psychology Today, 31/10/2026
When being better stops being good for you, Economic Times, 07/10/2026
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Why So Many Of Us Are Feeling Unsatisfied & What We Can Do About It, The Authority Magazine, 01/10/2026
The biggest myth in self-help, Wellbeing Explained, 10/09/2026.
Self-determination theory: How to use it to boost wellbeing. The Conversation, 04/09/2025
Are you pleasant to be around? Irish Times, 28/04/2025.
We need to get back to civic life. The Scotsman 26/05/2025.
The Problem of Nihilism. Welldoing.org.
Start banking on your happiness – you’ll never go bust. Daily Express and Daily Mirror, 22/04/2025
Healing, not coping. The Psychologist. 10 April 2025.
Green growth or degrowth: what is the right way to tackle climate change? The Conversation Australia, 26/11/2023
Measuring wellbeing in London: A participatory and place-based approach. Bennett Institute for Public Policy blog, 26/10/2023
It's time to move beyond the welfare state to a wellbeing state. 360info, 7/06/2023
A Theory of Thriving for People Living in Financial Hardship: Findings from a Coproduction Exercise. What works Well-Being Centre Blog, 02/11/2021
Respecting the subject in subjective well-being public policy. Bennett Institute for Public Policy blog, 05/10/2021
Wellbeing public policy needs more theory. Bennett Institute for Public Policy blog, 28/06/2021
Learning normative lessons from behavioural public policy for well-being public policy. Bennett Institute for Public Policy blog, 17/03/2021
Why public policy for well-being needs more than one approach, What Works Well-Being Centre Blog, 10/03/2021
Well-Being Increased During the First UK Lockdown - But Not For Everyone, LSE British Politics and Policy Blog, 22/12/2020
Hijacking anxiety: how Trump weaponised social alienation into ‘racialised economics’. The Conversation, 02/11/2020
Wellbeing levels fell during the pandemic but improved under the lockdown, data analysis shows. The Conversation, 31/07/2020
How Denmark Broke the Mould on Industrial Relations. Australian Financial Review, 4 June 2020
Bowling with Trump. Brookings Institution, 13 May 2020
Most of us who work long hours like the jobs we are in; those who don't change jobs quickly. The Conversation
New Zealand's well-being budget more smoke than fire. East Asia Forum, 15 June 2019
Australia votes for the fossil option. East Asia Forum, 28 May 2019
The supposed failure of liberal-centrism is anything but. The Australian Rationalist, 26 September 2018
Government v Market? In fact, hybrid policy is the best fit for the 21st century. The Conversation, 4 July 2018
Blaming migrants for unemployment, lower wages and high house prices is too simplistic. The Conversation, 23 February 2018
It’s time to draw the line in the sand on trigger warnings. Quillette, 13/10/2016,
India needs to harness the market instead of fighting it. East Asia Forum, 21/06/2016,
Generalising the middle-income trap. East Asia Forum, 28/04/2016
India’s demographic dividend strait-jacketed by labour regulations. East Asia Forum, 25/04/2016
Confusion about -isms is compounding schisms. Quillette, 11/04/2016
Socialism is worse than capitalism - you want a welfare state, Quillette, 21/2016;
Childcare not the only cost for working women in Japan. East Asia Forum, 16 September 2014
Japan needs to reform its work hour culture. East Asia Forum, 22 January 2014
ASEAN the key to security in Asia. East Asia Forum, 10 August 2013
For love not money: kidney exchange encourages social contract. The Conversation, 24 February 2012
What’s great about Canberra? ANU Reporter, vol. 45 no. 2 pg. 26
Fabian, M. Treating People as They Are or as They Can Be: Implications for Psychological Policy.
Fabian, M. Utility? Well-Being and the Behavioural Sciences
Fabian, M. Numerical Rather Than Analytic Solutions: A Better Paradigm for Ethical Philosophy