Mark Pennington’s research interests lie at the intersection of politics, philosophy and economics with an emphasis on the implications of bounded rationality and imperfect knowledge for institutional design. He has a particular interest in the works of Hayek, public choice theory and related elements of the classical liberal tradition. His earlier work focussed on the political economy of environmental planning and regulation and explored the potential for property rights approaches to environmental problems. His more recent work has explored the implications of bounded rationality in the context of contemporary theories of deliberative democracy. His latest book is called Robust Political Economy: Classical Liberalism and the Future of Public Policy, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2011). This work examines challenges to market liberal theory derived from neo-classical economics, communitarian political theory and egalitarian ethical theory and applies the lessons learned in the context of the welfare state, international development and environmental protection.  His previous books were Planning and the Political Market: Public Choice and the Politics of Government Failure (Athlone/Continuum 2000) and Liberating the Land (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2002).

Topics:

• Free Market Environmentalism
• Classical Liberalism and Political Theory
• Green Political Economy
• The Political Economy of the Regulatory State
• Contemporary Democratic Theory
• Austrian Economics
• Public Choice Theory
• Public Policy and Behavioural Economics