IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jns/jbstat/v222y2002i5p513-530.html

Exogenous Preferences, and Endogenous Tastes / Exogene Präferenzen und endogener Geschmack

Author

Listed:
  • Ebert Udo

    (Fachbereich 4, Universität Oldenburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, D-26111 Oldenburg)

  • Hagen Oskar von dem

    (PD, PhD, Fachbereich 4, Universität Oldenburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, D-26111 Oldenburg)

Abstract

This paper presents a unifying approach to modelling endogenous tastes. Tastes are defined as orderings of a subspace of a (suitable chosen) commodity space. Using this definition endogenous tastes are analytically similar to externalities. Accordingly, many models in economic theory can be interpreted as dealing with endogenous tastes. It is shown that changes in tastes have a direct and an indirect impact on welfare. The literature on externalities usually focuses on the direct effect while the literature on endogenous tastes mainly deals with the indirect effect. The analysis focuses on two main aspects of variable tastes: the institutional question (who influences tastes) and the technological question (what does it cost). The allocative inefficiency of an economic system with endogenous tastes is demonstrated and Pigouvian-type corrective taxes are discussed.The unifying framework presented in this paper can be used to analyze and discuss a wide variety of variable tastes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ebert Udo & Hagen Oskar von dem, 2002. "Exogenous Preferences, and Endogenous Tastes / Exogene Präferenzen und endogener Geschmack," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 222(5), pages 513-530, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:222:y:2002:i:5:p:513-530
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2002-0502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2002-0502
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jbnst-2002-0502?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hammond, Peter J., 1976. "Endogenous tastes and stable long-run choice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 329-340, October.
    2. David Levhari & Yoram Peles, 1973. "Market Structure, Quality and Durability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 4(1), pages 235-248, Spring.
    3. Dennis Kaufman, 1995. "Negative externalities and welfare improving preference changes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 6(1), pages 53-71, July.
    4. H. Leibenstein, 1950. "Bandwagon, Snob, and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumers' Demand," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 64(2), pages 183-207.
    5. Stigler, George J & Becker, Gary S, 1977. "De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 76-90, March.
    6. Gintis, Herbert, 1974. "Welfare Criteria with Endogenous Preferences: The Economics of Education," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 15(2), pages 415-430, June.
    7. Avinash Dixit & Victor Norman, 1978. "Advertising and Welfare," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, Spring.
    8. Pollak, Robert A & Wales, Terence J, 1979. "Welfare Comparisons and Equivalence Scales," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(2), pages 216-221, May.
    9. repec:bla:econom:v:43:y:1976:i:17:p:127-37 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Joseph E. Stiglitz & G. Frank Mathewson (ed.), 1986. "New Developments in the Analysis of Market Structure," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262690934, December.
    11. Sen, Amartya, 1993. "Internal Consistency of Choice," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(3), pages 495-521, May.
    12. Udo Ebert & Oskar von dem Hagen, 1998. "Pigouvian Taxes Under Imperfect Competition If Consumption Depends on Emissions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(4), pages 507-513, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacobs Martin, 2016. "Accounting for Changing Tastes: Approaches to Explaining Unstable Individual Preferences," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2), pages 121-183, August.
    2. Bester, Helmut & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 1995. "Price competition and advertising in oligopoly," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 1075-1088, June.
    3. Tomer, John F., 1996. "Good habits and bad habits: A new age socio-economic model of preference formation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 619-638.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver & Kohlschreiber, Marie & Kuchinke, Björn & Pannicke, Julia, 2019. "Does music quality matter for audience voters in a music contest?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 122, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    5. Yuxin Chen & Chakravarthi Narasimhan & Z. John Zhang, 2001. "Consumer Heterogeneity and Competitive Price-Matching Guarantees," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 300-314, June.
    6. Wang, Shinn-Shyr & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2006. "The Duopolistic Firm with Endogenous Risk Control: Case of Persuasive Advertising and Product Differentiation," Staff Paper Series 496, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    7. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2016. "Fashion with Snobs and Bandwagoners in a Three-Type Households and Three-Sector Neoclassical Growth Model Representación del consumo: Modelo de Crecimiento Neoclásico con Tres Factores," Remef - The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance, Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas. Remef, June.
    8. Félix-Fernando Muñoz & María-Isabel Encinar, 2019. "Some elements for a definition of an evolutionary efficiency criterion," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 919-937, July.
    9. Di Giovinazzo, Viviana & Naimzada, Ahmad, 2015. "A model of fashion: Endogenous preferences in social interaction," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 12-17.
    10. Tarcisio da Graça & Robert Masson, 2017. "Flawed Economic Models Have Misled RPM Policy: Changes in Canada, Europe and the United States," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(2), pages 181-207, March.
    11. Justin P. Johnson & David P. Myatt, 2006. "On the Simple Economics of Advertising, Marketing, and Product Design," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 756-784, June.
    12. Cyril Hédoin, 2017. "Normative economics and paternalism: the problem with the preference-satisfaction account of welfare," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 286-310, September.
    13. Bisin, Alberto & Verdier, Thierry, 1998. "On the cultural transmission of preferences for social status," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 75-97, October.
    14. Kuklys, W. & Robeyns, I., 2004. "Sen’s Capability Approach to Welfare Economics," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0415, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    15. Budzinski, Oliver & Gaenssle, Sophia, 2018. "The economics of social media stars: An empirical investigation of stardom, popularity, and success on YouTube," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 112, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    16. Burton, Michael & Young, Trevor, 1990. "Changes in Consumer Preferences For Meat in Great Britain: Non-Parametric and Parametric Analysis," Manchester Working Papers in Agricultural Economics 232820, University of Manchester, School of Economics, Agricultural Economics Department.
    17. Anderson, Simon P. & Gabszewicz, Jean J., 2006. "The Media and Advertising: A Tale of Two-Sided Markets," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, in: V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 18, pages 567-614, Elsevier.
    18. Mika Kurohata, 2020. "Effect of the CITES trade ban on preferences for ivory in Japan," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(3), pages 383-403, July.
    19. Nils‐Henrik M. von der Fehr & Kristin Stevik, 1998. "Persuasive Advertising and Product Differentiation," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 113-126, July.
    20. Mattauch, Linus & Hepburn, Cameron & Spuler, Fiona & Stern, Nicholas, 2022. "The economics of climate change with endogenous preferences," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:222:y:2002:i:5:p:513-530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyterbrill.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.