Loading…

How Can Positional Concerns Prevent the Adoption of Socially Desirable Innovations?

We study the role of positional concerns in explaining the (non-) diffusion of profitable and environmentally friendly innovations in situations where there is no conventional prisoner dilemma. Based on anecdotal evidence from farming activities, we introduce the concept of negative positional goods...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic issues 2012-09, Vol.46 (3), p.799-810
Main Authors: Salhi, Salima, Grolleau, Gilles, Mzoughi, Naoufel, Sutan, Angela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We study the role of positional concerns in explaining the (non-) diffusion of profitable and environmentally friendly innovations in situations where there is no conventional prisoner dilemma. Based on anecdotal evidence from farming activities, we introduce the concept of negative positional goods, that is, goods that destroy status in a given reference group, and show how interactions between status concerns and profitability can lead to unexpected outcomes. Several policy implications are drawn.
ISSN:0021-3624
1946-326X
DOI:10.2753/JEI0021-3624460311