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Measuring consumer surplus in the case of addiction: A re-examination of the rational benchmark algebra

Author

Listed:
  • Sophie Massin

    (Univ. Artois, LEM-CNRS (UMR 9221))

  • Maxence Miéra

    (Univ. Artois, LEM-CNRS (UMR 9221))

Abstract

Measuring consumer surplus for addicted consumers is challenging because the presence of internalities makes the observed demand schedule a biased basis to estimate the actual welfare experienced by consumers. A common practice in literature consists of using non-addicted consumers as a rational benchmark. This short contribution points out some limitations of existing approaches and provides a revised measure that satisfies desirable properties in this rational benchmark framework. Comparative estimates based on data from the Australian Productivity Commission 1999 report on gambling indicate that existing approaches lead to largely overestimate the net consumer surplus. The new measure we propose is easy to implement and could be a useful tool when it comes to assessing welfare in addictive contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Sophie Massin & Maxence Miéra, 2020. "Measuring consumer surplus in the case of addiction: A re-examination of the rational benchmark algebra," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 3171-3181.
  • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-20-00728
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Maxence Miéra & Sophie Massin & Vincent Eroukmanoff, 2023. "The social value of gambling: surplus estimates by gambling types for France," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(9), pages 1531-1543, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Addiction; consumer surplus; cost-benefit analysis; rational benchmark; gambling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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