Merit goods in a utilitarian framework

Bibliographic Data

ID12229897
AuthorsStefan Mann (0000-0003-3654-8644, a Agroscope FAT Tänikon , Ettenhausen, Switzerland, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume18
Issue4
Pages509-520
Publication date2006-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0953-8259 • E-ISSN: 1465-3982
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09538250600915691
OpenAlexW1982626331
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited23

Merit goods are defined here as goods for which government interference with the aggregated willingness to pay increases utility. The paper argues that three cases exist where consideration for merit goods would lead to a Pareto improvement and where merit goods should therefore be reintegrated into the public economics framework. The state may be better informed about the conditions for the possibility of certain consumer wants. In cases of multiple preference orders within one person, the state may need to play a role if market preferences and reflective preferences are to converge. And the state may be needed to internalize psychological externalities. The inclusion of the merit goods concept may explain how some policies, like schooling policy, may increase overall well-being, whereas the classical public economics framework is unable to do so

Economics · Externality · Government (linguistics · Market failure · Microeconomics · Pareto principle · Positive economics · Preference · Public economics · Public good · Willingness to accept · Willingness to pay · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Economic Theory and Institutions · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

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