Hacia una revisión crítica del análisis neoclásico del consumo: una alternativa basada en las necesidades
Keywords:
Consumer choice theory, Consumption, Human needsAbstract
Traditionally, the neo-classical theory of consumerchoice analyses consumer’s behaviour assuming exogenous generation of preferences, consumer sovereignty and utility of individual welfaremaximisation. This theoretical analysis appears to be limited in scopewhen it comes to understanding the real consumption process of mostpeople in rich societies. It is proven by empirical studies that increasesin consumption do not show to be clearly related to increases in indi-vidual utility of welfare. Many orthodox economists like Sen (1977),Stigler and Becker (1977) and Akerlof and Dickens (1984) have broa-dened the neo-classical framework by relaxing some basic assumptionsin order to enhance its explanatory power. In this paper it is argued thatthe incorporation of the key features of the theory of human need(Doyal and Gough, 1994) in the analyses of the consumption processleads to distinguishing among goods and services purchased depen-ding on them being generated by needs or wants. In this way the roleof the productive system in shaping and determining wants and theacquisition of need satisfactors is highlighted.
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