Arbeitspapier
Positional goods, climate change and the social returns to investment
The economic analysis of global warming is dominated by models based on optimal growth theory. This approach can generate biases in the presence of positional goods and status effects. We show that by ignoring these direct consumption externalities, integrated assessment models overestimate the social return to conventional investment and underestimate the optimal amount of investment in mitigation. Empirical evidence on the influence of relative consumption on utility suggests that the bias could be quantitatively significant. Our results from a simple survey support this conclusion.
- Language
-
Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
-
Series: Working Paper ; No. 2011-24
- Classification
-
Wirtschaft
Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
- Subject
-
representative agent
consumption externalities
positional goods
relative consumption
welfare
global warming
discount rates
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
-
Davis, Leila
Skott, Peter
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
-
University of Massachusetts, Department of Economics
- (where)
-
Amherst, MA
- (when)
-
2011
- Handle
- Last update
-
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET
Data provider
This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Davis, Leila
- Skott, Peter
- University of Massachusetts, Department of Economics
Time of origin
- 2011
Other Objects (12)
Vertical Differentiation With A Positional Good
On the public provision of positional goods
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical asset returns in the consumption and investment goods sector
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Investment climate and private investments
Positional Power in Hierarchies
Positional and Detection Games
How much do others matter? Explaining positional concerns for different goods and personal characteristics
Investment climate of Georgia
Vertical Differentiation With A Positional Good
On the public provision of positional goods
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical asset returns in the consumption and investment goods sector
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Investment climate and private investments
Positional Power in Hierarchies
Positional and Detection Games
How much do others matter? Explaining positional concerns for different goods and personal characteristics
Investment climate of Georgia
Vertical Differentiation With A Positional Good
On the public provision of positional goods
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical Asset Returns in the Consumption and Investment Goods Sector
Cyclical asset returns in the consumption and investment goods sector
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Investment climate and private investments
Positional Power in Hierarchies
Positional and Detection Games
How much do others matter? Explaining positional concerns for different goods and personal characteristics