Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/99999 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Citation: 
[Journal:] Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal [ISSN:] 1864-6042 [Volume:] 8 [Issue:] 2014-24 [Publisher:] Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) [Place:] Kiel [Year:] 2014 [Pages:] 1-29
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel
Abstract: 
Scitovsky is known as a forerunner of behavioural economics simply because he drew heavily on psychology and claimed that people's choices may be "joyless" (Scitovsky, The joyless economy, 1976). However, a careful reformulation of his analysis shows that he anticipated a number of insights (also with respect to Kahneman's "two-systems of thought" which suggest new lines of inquiry from an original and different perspective. These insights of Scitovsky regard the following aspects: Uncertainty as a condition where the outcomes of choosing a particular option (novelty) is partially unknown; the case of individual "consumption skill" (inclusive of emotions) that finds this uncertainty desirable when it is challenging; the case of increasing such skill so as to change preferences and make choices more efficient; the case of failing to increase such skill so as to make addictive harmful products an alternative and more tempting option.
Subjects: 
Scitovsky
behavioural economics
novelty
consumption skill
strong uncertainty
harmful addiction
JEL: 
B31
D03
D11
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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