Skip to content

School of Geography and the Environment

University of Oxford
School of Geography and the Environment

 School of Geography and the Environment

Professor Gordon L. Clark

Academic Profile

Gordon L. Clark AcSS, ASSA, FBA, DSc, is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography and Professorial Fellow at St Peter's College. Prior to his appointment in 1995, he held teaching and research positions at Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government), the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University (Heinz School of Public Policy and Management) and Monash University. Professor Clark has been UK representative on the European Commission DG Research TMR Panel, is a member of the Advisory Board of the ESRC Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (Warwick University), has served on the Scientific Advisory Board at Lund University (Sweden), is an Affiliate of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Studies programme, and is an Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne (Australia). He also serves as a trustee on the Oxford Staff Pension Scheme.

Having published in a variety of international referred journals on topics related to economic geography, finance, and pension institutions and policy, he is the co-author with Dr Dariusz Wójcik of The Geography of Finance (OUP, 2007) which brings together their papers on finance, path dependence, and the market for European corporate governance. Other recent books include Global Competitiveness and Innovation (Palgrave Macmillan 2004) with Dr Paul Tracey of Cambridge University, Pension Security in the 21st Century (co-editor, OUP 2003), European Pensions & Global Finance (OUP 2003) - a study of the intersection between the European pensions crisis and global financial imperatives, Pension Fund Capitalism (OUP 2000) - a study of the evolution of pension funds in advanced economies, their structure and management, investment strategies and decision making relevant to urban economic development, and The Oxford Handbook of Pensions and Retirement Income (co-editor) (OUP 2006).

With Dr Tessa Hebb, Dr Terry Babcock-Lumish and Lisa Hagerman he has been a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program on a project focusing on the role and significance of private pension systems in modern economics and in particular US public sector pension investment in American cities. Research from the project can be found on the Pension Funds and Urban Revitalization website.

Earlier in his career, Professor Clark held an Andrew Mellon National Research Council Fellowship at the US National Academy of Sciences. He has served as an expert witness in court cases dealing with land use zoning and planning and, in conjunction with colleagues at Harvard University, held a Lincoln Land Institute fellowship comparing United States and Canadian urban and environmental regulation. He also has been a consultant for the American Institute of Architects, the US federal government, local governments, the National Academy of Sciences' Employment and Technology Committee, major US steel corporations, a number of financial services companies, the UK government (DTI), the French Government, the Government of Ontario, World Bank, and the OECD.

He is an Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the British Academy, and an Academician of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. He has also been recognised with the Distinguished Alumni Award (McMaster University).

Current Research

His current research combines economic geography with financial markets and includes corporate governance, decision-making, pensions and government regulation. Aspects of this programme have been supported by the British Academy, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, the ESRC, the European Science Foundation, the NAPF, the SSHRC (Canada), Allianz, MetallRente, Mercers, Watson Wyatt, AIG, and Credit Suisse. With Dr Emiko Caerlewy-Smith, Prof. John Marshall and Roger Urwin, Gordon Clark has developed a research programme devoted to the governance of finance institutions and pension funds and the nature and logic of financial decision-making. Related research from this project and other projects can be found on the Finance, Behaviour and Pension Fund Governance webpage. You can also find his Trustee Decision - Making Assessment Workbooks online.

Recent papers with colleagues can be found at the Working Papers in Employment, Work and Finance website.

Selected Research Projects (since 2001)

Teaching

MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy

Current graduate students include:
  • Csaba Burger
    Wealth and Development
  • Pin-Hsien Chen
    The reform of pension systems in Taiwan.
  • Dorothee Franzen
    Impact of regulation on the asset investment of defined benefit pension funds.
  • Taylor Gray
    How does the incorporation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics in investment decision-making in Canadian capital markets contribute to environmental governance
  • Nicholas Howarth
    Carbon markets, technological change and the politics and economics of climate change and energy transformation
  • Eric Knight
    Corporate Finance and Climate Change
  • Janelle Knox-Hayes
    Constructing an international market for carbon trading: an institutional perspective.
  • Leng Lee
    Essays on Rural-Urban Migration in China: Job Search, Information and Expectations.
  • Caitlin McElroy
    Corporate social responsibility in the extractive and energy industries: Effects on resource use and indigenous development.
  • Rajiv Sharma
    The role of private institutional investors in developing urban infrastructure assets.
  • Ville-Pekka Sorsa
    Pension fund capitalism in Europe: Institutional organisation and governance of investment in Finnish pension insurance companies.
  • Claire Woods
    Legal Frameworks for Sustainable Investment.
D.Phil. students successfully completing since 2001:
  • Adam Dixon (2009)
    The Geography of European financial integration and long-term asset management.
  • Lisa Hagerman (2008)
    Public pension fund investment in urban revitalization.
  • Ashby Monk (2008)
    The burden of corporate pension liabilities in the emerging global economy.
  • Kendra Strauss (2008)
    Choice, risk and the context of decision making in UK pensions.
  • Emiko Caerlewy-Smith (2007)
    Investment decision-making: attitudes and actions of UK defined benefit pension fund trustees.
  • James Salo (2006)
    Corporate environmental performance: Governance, intangible assets, and financial markets.
  • Morag Torrance (2006)
    The financialisation of the urban infrastructure landscape: Unravelling financial flows into urban geographies.
  • Terry Babcock-Lumish (2004)
    Communities of trust: Decision making and innovation.
  • Tessa Hebb (2004)
    Pension fund corporate engagement: Causes and consequences.
  • Dariusz Wójcik (2002)
    Corporate governance and capital market integration in Europe: An economic geography perspective.

Selected Publications (2001 to date)

Books
Edited Journals (special issues)
  • Clark, G.L. with A. Tickell. (eds.) (2005) Global standards. Environment and Planning A, 37(11): 1901-2071.
Papers and Articles
Monographs and Reports