6533b857fe1ef96bd12b3b67
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Positional goods and social welfare: a note on George Pendleton Watkins’ neglected contribution
Massimiliano VatieroLuca Fioritosubject
Consumption (economics)George P060106 history of social sciencesGeneral Arts and Humanities05 social sciencesEconomics Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)Watkins George P.Social Welfare06 humanities and the artsNeoclassical economicsWatkinspositional goodsHistory and Philosophy of ScienceSettore SECS-P/04 - Storia Del Pensiero EconomicoGeorge (robot)0502 economics and businessEconomics0601 history and archaeologySocial exclusionpositional goodconsumption050207 economicsWatkins George P.; positional goods; consumption.Externalitydescription
Watkins's analysis of adventitious utility contains many aspects that are connected to the contemporary debate on positional goods. First, Watkins adventitious utility emerges from a process of social exclusion and can create negative externalities, in the sense that positive consumption of one individual implies negative consumption by another individual. Not only it creates negative externalities on other individuals, but it can initiate a race-to-the-bottom, where individuals waste an increasing amount of money on goods which do not possess any real utility.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-05-04 | The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought |