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Towards Sustainable Consumption: Economics and Ethical Concerns for the Environment in Consumer Choices

Jouni Paavola

Review of Social Economy, 2001, vol. 59, issue 2, 227-248

Abstract: The article examines individual action informed by ethical concerns for the environment as a strategy for moving toward more sustainable consumption. The article first employs a model of rational choice to analyze independent consumer choices among the usually assumed self- and welfare-centered consumers and then expands the model to analyze the implications of other than self- and welfare-centered motivations for consumer choice. The article next analyzes interdependent consumer choices informed by self- and welfare-centered values with the help of a simple game-theoretic model and then moves on to examine the implications of nonutilitarian environmental concerns for interdependent consumer choice in the same game-theoretic framework. The article concludes that although a strategy based on individual action may have limited promise when environmental concerns are widely shared, the case for collective action remains strong because of both efficiency and equity reasons.

Keywords: Consumer Choice; Environment; Rationality; Preferences; Values; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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DOI: 10.1080/00346760110036175

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