The Moral Status of Pecuniary Externalities

Brian Kogelmann () and Jeffrey Carroll ()
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Brian Kogelmann: West Virginia University
Jeffrey Carroll: Bowling Green State University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024, vol. 195, issue 1, No 6, 132 pages

Abstract: Abstract Pecuniary externalities—costs imposed on third parties mediated through the price system—have typically received little philosophical attention. Recently, this has begun to change. In two separate papers, Richard Endörfer (Econ Philos 38, pp. 221–241, 2022) and Hayden Wilkinson (Philos Public Affairs 50: 202–238, 2022) place pecuniary externalities at center stage. Though their arguments differ significantly, both conclude pecuniary externalities are in some sense morally problematic. If the state is not called on to regulate pecuniary externalities, then, at the very least, individuals should be conscious of how their productive and consumptive decisions affect others by changing prices. We disagree. Both arguments fail, in that neither gives us reason to think pecuniary externalities are cause for moral concern. Unless a new argument emerges, pecuniary externalities should be left alone.

Keywords: Pecuniary externalities; Externalities; Market harms; Market benefits; Harm Principle; Creative destruction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05696-x

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