Lotte Ovaere, Political economy of environmental law enforcement, renewable energy support and parking

Why is a policy the way it is? Political economy – the use of economic models and theory to describe policy issues – has developed over the last decades to become one of the most active research areas. This PhD thesis is situated in this extended study domain, and the objective is to explain specific economic policies in modern democracies. We explore the capability of interest groups to influence the political process, and study agency problems in delegation games, in the following policy areas: enforcement of environmental regulation and of parking regulation, and support for renewable energy. We focus on explaining the policy the way it is, and contrast our findings to normative benchmarks.