Abstract
The utility that an individual derives from a Veblen good is an increasing function of the individual’s consumption of the good relative to the consumption of others.
Keywords
- Conspicuous consumption
- Leisure
- Leisure class
- Relative consumption trap
- Status and economics
- Upward-sloping demand curves
- Veblen goods
- Veblen, T.
- Well-being
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Bibliography
Frank, R. 1999. Luxury fever: Why money fails to satisfy in an era of excess. New York: Free Press.
Hopkins, E., and T. Kornienko. 2004. Running to keep in the same place: Consumer choice as a game of status. American Economic Review 94: 1085–1107.
Leibenstein, H. 1950. Bandwagon, snob, and Veblen effects in the theory of consumers’ demand. Quarterly Journal of Economics 64: 183–207.
Luttmer, E.F.P. 2005. Neighbors as negatives: Relative earnings and well-being. Quarterly Journal of Economics 120: 963–1002.
Veblen, T. 1899. The theory of the leisure class: An economic study of institutions, 1934. New York: The Modern Library.
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Curtis Eaton, B. (2018). Veblen Goods. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2321
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2321
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
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