Publications

Books

Fabian, M. A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing. (2022). Oxford University Press.

Fabian, M. and Breunig, R. (2018). Hybrid Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond Ideology. Routledge.

Book Chapters

Fabian, M. (2024). The Ethics of Wellbeing.  Forthcoming in Brockmann, H. & Fernandez Urbano, R. (eds.), Elgar Encyclopaedia of Happiness Economics and Public Policy.

Fabian, M. (2024). The Epistemology of Wellbeing. Forthcoming in Brockmann, H. & Fernandez Urbano, R. (eds.), Elgar Encyclopaedia of Happiness Economics and Public Policy.

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. Download. 

Journal Articles

Fabian, M. Alexandrova, A., and Cinamon-Nair, Y.  (2023). Coproducing Wellbeing Public Policy: A Theory of Thriving in Financial Hardship. Online first in Journal of Happiness Studies. (Download Open Access).

Coyle, D., Fabian, M., Besley, T., M., Stevens, M.  & Beinhocker, E. (2023). Rebooting Normative Economics. Fiscal Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 105 - 220. (Download Open Access)   

Cooper, C., Fabian, M., & Krekel, C. (2023). New Approaches to Measuring Economic Welfare. Fiscal Studies, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 123 - 135. (Download Open Access)

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. (Download Open Access). 

Fabian, M., Agarwala, M., Alexandrova, A., Coyle, D., and Felici, M. (2022). Respecting the Subject in Subjective Well-Being Public Policy: Moving Beyond the Social Planner Perspective. Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 1494 - 1517. (Download Open Access)

Fabian, M. and Dold, M. (2022). Agentic Preferences: A Conditional Defence of Nudges When Preferences are Endogenous. Online first at Behavioural Public Policy. (Download Open Access).

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. (Download Open Access)

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. (Download Open Access)

Alexandrova, A. and Fabian, M. (2022). Democratising Measurement: A Case Study from Well-Being. European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 1-23. (Download Open Access)

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.  (Webinar)

Fabian, M. Scale Norming Makes Welfare Analysis with Life Satisfaction Data Difficult.  (2021). Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1509-1541. (Download Open Access) 

Fabian, M. (2021). DevSim: A PowerPoint-Based Simulator Game for Teaching Economic Development. Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 95 - 105.  (Download Open Access)

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. Download.

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. Download.

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. Download. 

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. Download. 

Commissioned Works and Papers not in Academic Journals

Fabian, M. & Alexandrova, A. (2022). When, Why, and How to do Coproduction in Wellbeing Policy and Practice. What Works Centre for Wellbeing Methods Paper. Download Open Access.

Alexandrova, A. & Fabian, M. (2021). The Science of Wellbeing. John Templeton Foundation. Download Open Access. 

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. Download Open Access. 

Working Papers Under Review

Dold, M., Emmerick, E. and Fabian, M. Taking Psychology Seriously? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Sugden's Opportunity Criterion. Revise & resubmit at Journal of Economic Methodology. (Working Paper).

Fabian, M., Alexandrova, A., Agarwala, M., Coyle, D., Fabian, M. and Felici, M. Well-Being Public Policy Needs More Theory.  Revise and resubmit at International Journal of Wellbeing. (Working Paper).  

Wilkinson, J. & Fabian, M. Bricolage in local government perspectives on cycling infrastructure.  Revise and resubmit at Mobilities. 

Cinamon Nair, Y. & Fabian, M. The value of researcher reflexivity in the coproduction of public policy: A practical perspective. Revise and resubmit at Journal of Medical Humanities.   

Academic Book Reviews

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.  (Download Open Access)

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

Work in Progress (descending by progress)

Fabian, M. Wholeness: How We Can Create Wellbeing for Ourselves and Each Other (pop book) 

Fabian, M., Kaiser, C., Funke, S., Panasiuk, S. & Brett, C. Evidence Against the Simple Statistical Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales from Long Form Cognitive Interviews. 

Fabian, M., Kaiser, C., Funke, S., Panasiuk, S. & Brett, C. What Determines People's Life Satisfaction? Evidence from 100 Long Form Cognitive Interviews. 

Fabian, M. & Franco, V. Clarifying the Concept of Psychological Richness.  

Fabian, M. The Wellbeing State: A New Political Economy. Book Project.

Fabian, M. & Thoma, J. Epistemic Injustice in Public Policy and Ways to Overcome it. 

Larroulet-Philippi, C., Alexandrova, A., Coyle, D., Fabian, M., Agarwala, M. and Felici, M. What are WELLBYs good for?  

Fabian, M. Conscience: The Critical Links Between Well-Being and the (Social) Psychology of Valuation

Fabian, M. Treating People as They Are or as They Can Be: Implications for Psychological Policy. 

Opinion Articles and Other Short Commentaries

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

Abandoned Projects

Fabian M. The Coalescence of Being (book). Available here. 

This was an early, more philosophical version of my PhD dissertation (A Theory of Subjective Well-Being). It includes much longer discussions of the existential philosophy that is the foundation of my theory of coalescence, for anybody who is interested. It also includes a sustained analysis of existentialist meta-ethics, a project that I think I extended substantially. I finished this book a week before my 30th birthday, which was a major goal of my own coalescence. The last chapter on institutions for managing normative contests is something that I intend to pick up again at some point (soon hopefully). 

Unstarted Projects

These are ideas I have for papers and I don't know where else to store them

Fabian, M. & friends. Muddling Through: A Coherentist Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being

Fabian, M. et al. How to coproduce wellbeing indicators? A how to guide based on qualitative research

Fabian, M. Normative Vacuum: How and Why to Rebuild Social Institutions in a Secular World

Fabian, M. The Biological Soul: Well-Being and the Behavioural Sciences

Fabian, M. Behavioural Economics is a Threat to Welfare Modelling but Not Preference-Satisfaction as a Welfare Criterion

Fabian, M. Causal Analysis When Choice is Inextricably Endogenous

Fabian, M. Insights From Reconciling Analysis-For and Analysis-Of Public Policy

Fabian, M. Numerical Rather Than Analytic Solutions: A Better Paradigm for Ethical Philosophy

Fabian, M. What Determines the Resilience of Subjective Well-Being? Evidence from Longitudinal Social Surveys. 

Fabian, M. How Social Capital Forms and Altruism Emerges: Ethnographic Evidence from the Miniature Wargaming Community

Fabian, M. How Social Capital Forms and Altruism Emerges: Ethnographic Evidence from Secular Churches

Fabian, M. How Social Capital Forms and Altruism Emerges: Ethnographic Evidence from the Effective Altruism Movement

Cognitive Interviewing Life Satisfaction Reports

Scale norming study of graduates from a residential college at a large state university