Introducing Procedural Utility: Not only What, but also How Matters

Bruno Frey, Matthias Benz and Alois Stutzer

CREMA Working Paper Series from Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA)

Abstract: People not only care about outcomes, they also value the procedures which lead to the outcomes. Procedural utility is a potentially important source of human well-being. This paper aims at introducing the concept of procedural utility into economics, and argues that it should be incorporated more widely into economic theory and empirical research. Three building blocks of a concept of procedural utility are outlined and it is suggested how procedural utility can be fruitfully integrated. Evidence from a broad range of social sciences is reviewed in order to show that procedural utility is a relevant concept for economics.

Keywords: procedural utility; outcome utility; institutions. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 A12 D60 D70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-hpe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Introducing Procedural Utility: Not Only What, but Also How Matters (2004)
Working Paper: Introducing Procedural Utility: Not only What, but also How Matters
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cra:wpaper:2003-02

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