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Positional goods and legal orderings

Author

Listed:
  • Ugo Pagano

    (Department of Economics, University of Siena, Italy)

  • Massimiliano Vatiero

    (Law Institute (IDUSI) and Institute of Economics (IdEP), Faculty of Economics, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland)

Abstract

People consume because others consume, maintained Veblen in 1899. More recently, theoretical, empirical and experimental articles have argued that people constantly compare themselves to their environments and care greatly about their relative positions. Given that competition for positions may produce social costs, we adopt a Law and Economics approach (i) to suggest legal remedies for positional competition, and (ii) to argue that, because legal relations are characterized in turn by positional characteristics, such legal remedies do not represent free lunches.

Suggested Citation

  • Ugo Pagano & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2018. "Positional goods and legal orderings," IdEP Economic Papers 1802, USI Università della Svizzera italiana.
    • Handle: RePEc:lug:wpidep:1802
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ed Hopkins & Tatiana Kornienko, 2004. "Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1085-1107, September.
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    3. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
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    5. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    6. Luca Fiorito & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2011. "Beyond Legal Relations: Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld's Influence on American Institutionalism," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 199-222.
    7. Pagano, Ugo & Vatiero, Massimiliano, 2015. "Costly institutions as substitutes: novelty and limits of the Coasian approach," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 265-281, June.
    8. Fredrik Carlsson & Olof Johansson‐Stenman & Peter Martinsson, 2007. "Do You Enjoy Having More than Others? Survey Evidence of Positional Goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(296), pages 586-598, November.
    9. Luca Fiorito & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2013. "A Joint Reading of Positional and Relational Goods," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 87-96.
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    12. Frank, Robert H, 1985. "The Demand for Unobservable and Other Nonpositional Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 101-116, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bilancini, Ennio & Boncinelli, Leonardo, 2019. "Wage inequality, labor income taxes, and the notion of social status," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-35.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Positional good; Conspicuous consumption; Legal ordering; Legal relations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)

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