This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Appropriating signs and meaning: The elusive economics of trademark

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Ramello, Giovanni B. ()
Silva, Francesco

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper deals with economic analysis of trademark. Its presence in markets is originally connected with the problem of information asymmetries and the need to provide information for assisting exchanges, so as to avert the market failure brought about by adverse selection. However this information-conveying function is also accompanied by a differentiation effect, arising from the power of persuasion that signs can exert on individuals. The exploitation of differentiation has given rise to the practice of branding, which ties markets and consumption to the realms of meaning and experience. Branding is so all-pervasive in today's economy as to have somehow transfigured it, so that the role of persuasion is now pre-eminent. Nonetheless, the mainstream economic theory tends to resist acknowledging this change, which would to a large extent call into question well-established hypotheses and theoretical tools. The general response has therefore been to assume that the informational role of trademark predominates, and to use this hypothesis to construct models, welfare evaluations and policy prescriptions that bear little or no relation to the actual markets. The opposing approach - in the shadow of the Nelson's and Arrow's seminal papers on economics of information - is recognising the idiosyncratic character of information, and therefore drawing conclusions and devising solutions that, while still based upon the welfare criterion, also incorporate a wider awareness and a deeper representation of the scenario under study. The present work attempts to move in this direction, showing how different disciplines can provide some key epistemological tools for enabling economists to effectively evaluate the welfare outcomes of the introduction and progressive alteration of a particular intellectual property right within the realm of signs and meanings.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://polis.unipmn.it/pubbl/RePEc/uca/ucapdv/ramello76.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS in its series P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers with number 70.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 30 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:uca:ucapdv:70

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://polis.unipmn.it/index.html

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Lucia Padovani).

Related research
Keywords: trademark; brand; intellectual property; economics of information; signs; economic welfare;

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Bissey, Marie-Edith & Canegallo, Claudia & Ortona, Guido & Scacciati, Francesco, 2003. "Competition vs. Cooperation. An Experimental Inquiry," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 37, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  2. Levaggi, Rosella & Zanola, Roberto, 2000. "The Flypaper Effect: Evidence from the Italian National Health System," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 10, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  3. Montrucchio, Luigi & Privileggi, Fabio, 1999. "On Fragility of Bubbles in Equilibrium Asset Pricing Models of Lucas-Type," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 5, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Ortona, Guido, 2002. "Choosing the electoral system: why not simply the best one?," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 30, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  5. Marchese, Carla & Montefiori, Marcello, 2005. "Mean voting rule and strategical behavior: an experiment," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 49, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  6. Fraschini, Angela, 2006. "Fiscal federalism in big developing countries: China and India," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 60, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  7. Ortona, Guido & Ottone, Stefania & Ponzano, Ferruccio, 2005. "A simulative assessment of the Italian electoral system," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 53, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  8. Locatelli-Biey, Marilena & Zanola, Roberto, 2000. "The Market for Sculptures: an Adjacent Year Regression Index," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 14, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ferruccio Ponzano, 2001. "Efficiency wages and endogenous supervision technology," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 23, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  10. Bondonio, Daniele, 2002. "Evaluating the Employment Impact of Business Incentive Programs in EU Disadvantaged Areas. A case from Northern Italy," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 27, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  11. Fiorino, Nadia & Ricciuti, Roberto, 2006. "Legislature size and government spending in Italian regions: forecasting the effects of a reform," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 69, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Ottone, Stefania & Ponzano, Ferruccio, 2005. "An Extension to the Model of Inequity Aversion by Fehr and Schmidt," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 51, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  13. Compagnoni, Viola, 2005. "Analisi dei criteri per la definizione di standard sanitari nazionali," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 54, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  14. Ottone, Stefania, 2006. "fairness: a survey," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 57, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  15. Levaggi, Rosella & Montefiori, Marcello, 2005. "It takes three to tango: Soft budget constraint and cream skimming in the hospital care market," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 48, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  16. Nadia Fiorino & Roberto Ricciuti, 2007. "Determinants of Direct Democracy," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  17. Fraschini, Angela & Osculati, Franco, 2006. "La teoria economica dell'associazionismo tra enti locali," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 65, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  18. Guido Ortona, 2000. "On the Xenophobia of non-discriminated Ethnic Minorities," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 15, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  19. Bondonio, Daniele, 2001. "Evaluating Decentralized Policies: How to Compare the Performance of Economic Development Programs across Different Regions or States," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 16, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  20. Bissey, Marie-Edith & Ortona, Guido, 2002. "A simulative frame to study the integration of defectors in a cooperative setting," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 24, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  21. Amisano, Franco, 2002. "La corruzione amministrativa in una burocrazia di tipo concorrenziale: modelli di analisi economica," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 29, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  22. Marie-Edith Bissey & Mauro Carini & Guido Ortona, 2004. "ALEX3: a Simulation Program to Compare Electoral Systems," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 7. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  23. Marchese, Carla & Privileggi, Fabio, 2001. "Who participates in tax amnesties? Self-selection of risk-averse taxpayers," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 21, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  24. Ponzano, Ferruccio, 2005. "Optimal provision of public goods under imperfect intergovernmental competition," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 44, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  25. Bernardi, Luigi & Fraschini, Angela, 2005. "Tax system and tax reforms in India," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 45, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  26. Ottone, Stefania, 2005. "Transfers and Altruistic Punishments in Solomon's Game experiments," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 50, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  27. Cassone, Alberto & Marchese, Carla, 2001. "Einaudi e i servizi pubblici, ovvero come contrastare i monopolisti predoni e la burocrazia corrotta," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 17, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  28. Ponzano, Ferruccio, 2005. "Competition among different levels of government: the re-election problem," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 47, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  29. Ottone, Stefania, 2004. "Transfers and Altruistic Punishments in Third Party Punishment Game Experiments," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 41, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  30. Ponzano, Ferruccio, 2004. "The allocation of the income tax among different levels of government: a theoretical solution," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 40, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  31. Cassone, Alberto & Marchese, Carla, 2001. "Should the death tax die? And should it leave an inheritance?," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 22, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  32. Marchese, Carla & Privileggi, Fabio, 1999. "Taxpayers Attitudes Toward Risk and Amnesty Participation: Economic Analysis and Evidence for the Italian Case," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 6, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  33. Mario Ferrero, 2005. "Radicalization as a reaction to failure: An economic model of Islamic extremism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 199-220, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ramello, Giovanni B., 2008. "Semiotica, diritto e mercato. Economia del marchio nel terzo millenio," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 102, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? The most prolific authors have over 700 items listed on IDEAS.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-8.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.