Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/141880 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5903
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We contrast alternative liability rules for social control of product risks when heterogeneous consumers considering purchasing a durable good due to cognitive errors and biases mispredict future product benefits and, thus, the extent of future product usage. Since the expected consumer harm directly depends on the level of product usage, the consequences of consumers’ mispredictions vary with the prevailing liability regime. We first characterize the consumers’ purchasing decision and the equilibrium levels of safety and activity from the product’s usage under no liability, strict liability, and negligence rule. We then compare the three legal regimes from the social welfare standpoint. Our analysis clarifies why and how the choice of the socially optimal legal regime depends on the distribution of consumers based on the direction and extent of their mispredictions. When consumers are susceptible to mispredicting future product benefits and usage, the appropriate legal regime is likely product-specific.
Subjects: 
misprediction
activity
durable consumer products
product risk
liability rules
JEL: 
K13
D03
D61
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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