IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jindec/v41y1993i4p361-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Planned Obsolescence as an Engine of Technological Progress

Author

Listed:
  • Fishman, Arthur
  • Gandal, Neil
  • Shy, Oz

Abstract

Critics of capitalism contend that many products are designed to have uneconomically short lives, with the intention of forcing consumers to repurchase too frequently. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as 'planned obsolescence.'In this paper, the authors show that a competitive market may generate too much durability in equilibrium. In particular, they show that planned obsolescence may be a necessary condition for the achievement of technological progress and that a pattern of rapidly deteriorating products and fast innovation may be preferred to long-lasting products and slow innovation. Copyright 1993 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Fishman, Arthur & Gandal, Neil & Shy, Oz, 1993. "Planned Obsolescence as an Engine of Technological Progress," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 361-370, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:41:y:1993:i:4:p:361-70
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-1821%28199312%2941%3A4%3C361%3APOAAEO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L&origin=bc
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bulow, Jeremy I, 1982. "Durable-Goods Monopolists," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(2), pages 314-332, April.
    2. Gul, Faruk & Sonnenschein, Hugo & Wilson, Robert, 1986. "Foundations of dynamic monopoly and the coase conjecture," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 155-190, June.
    3. Coase, Ronald H, 1972. "Durability and Monopoly," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 143-149, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2017. "Integrated vs. add-on: A multidimensional conceptualisation of technology obsolescence," MPRA Paper 86353, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Il-Horn Hann & Byungwan Koh & Marius F. Niculescu, 2016. "The Double-Edged Sword of Backward Compatibility: The Adoption of Multigenerational Platforms in the Presence of Intergenerational Services," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 112-130, March.
    3. Galiani, Sebastian & Jaitman, Laura & Weinschelbaum, Federico, 2020. "Crime and durable goods," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 146-163.
    4. Andrew M. King & Stuart C. Burgess & Winnie Ijomah & Chris A. McMahon, 2006. "Reducing waste: repair, recondition, remanufacture or recycle?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 257-267.
    5. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2017. "Integrated vs. add-on: A multidimensional conceptualisation of technology obsolescence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 299-307.
    6. Langenberg, Tobias, 2009. "Product Durability in Markets with Consumer Lock-in," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 279, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    7. Autores varios, 2017. "Aproximaciones Jurídicas a la Obsolescencia Programada," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 912, November.
    8. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. & Hernández-Mireles, C., 2006. "When Should Nintendo Launch its Wii? Insights From a Bivariate Successive Generation Model," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-032-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    9. Dwijen Rangnekar, 2002. "R&D appropriability and planned obsolescence: empirical evidence from wheat breeding in the UK (1960--1995)," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(5), pages 1011-1029, November.
    10. Qiu_Hong Wang & Kai-Lung Hui, 2005. "Technology Timing and Pricing In the Presence of an Installed Base," Industrial Organization 0512013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Tarek Selim, 2006. "On Equilibrium Number of Firms," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 34(4), pages 505-506, December.
    12. Chihmao Hsieh, 2011. "Explicitly searching for useful inventions: dynamic relatedness and the costs of connecting versus synthesizing," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(2), pages 381-404, February.
    13. Kuppelwieser, Volker G. & Klaus, Phil & Manthiou, Aikaterini & Boujena, Othman, 2019. "Consumer responses to planned obsolescence," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 157-165.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. James J. Anton & Gary Biglaiser, 2010. "Quality, Upgrades, and Equilibrium in a Dynamic Monopoly Model," Working Papers 10-36, Duke University, Department of Economics.
    2. Beccuti, Juan & Möller, Marc, 2021. "Screening by mode of trade," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 400-420.
    3. James J. Anton & Gary Biglaiser, 2007. "Quality Upgrades and the (loss) of Market Power in a Dynamic Monopoly Model," Working Papers 18, Portuguese Competition Authority.
    4. Edward Kutsoati & Jan Zabojnik, 2001. "Durable Goods Monopoly, Learning-by-doing and "Sleeping Patents"," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0105, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    5. Tian Xia & Richard Sexton, 2010. "Brand or Variety Choices and Periodic Sales as Substitute Instruments for Monopoly Price Discrimination," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 36(4), pages 333-349, June.
    6. Walter Beckert, 2004. "Dynamic Monopolies with Stochastic Demand," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 0404, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    7. Stefan Ambec & Corinne Langinier & Stéphane Lemarié, 2008. "Incentives to Reduce Crop Trait Durability," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 379-391.
    8. Mason, Robin, 2000. "Network externalities and the Coase conjecture," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1981-1992, December.
    9. Michael Waldman, 2004. "Antitrust Perspectives for Durable-Goods Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 1306, CESifo.
    10. Gerstle, Ari D. & Waldman, Michael, 2016. "Mergers in durable-goods industries: A re-examination of market power and welfare effects," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 677-692.
    11. Didier Laussel & Ngo V. Long & Joana Resende, 2020. "The curse of knowledge: having access to customer information can reduce monopoly profits," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(3), pages 650-675, September.
    12. Coury, Tarek & Petkov, Vladimir P., 2008. "Delegation and commitment in durable goods monopolies," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 41-55, May.
    13. Dilip Abreu & David G. Pearce, 2006. "Reputational Wars of Attrition with Complex Bargaining Postures," Levine's Working Paper Archive 122247000000001218, David K. Levine.
    14. Yildiz, Muhamet, 2003. "Walrasian bargaining," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 465-487, November.
    15. Paulo Maçãs Nunes, 2015. "Pricing Strategy In The Context Of Durable Goods Monopoly With Discrete Demand," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 60(204), pages 61-74, January –.
    16. Kumar, Praveen, 2006. "Intertemporal price-quality discrimination and the Coase conjecture," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(7-8), pages 896-940, November.
    17. Francesco Nava & Pasquale Schiraldi, 2019. "Differentiated Durable Goods Monopoly: A Robust Coase Conjecture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1930-1968, May.
    18. Saracho, Ana I., 2011. "Licensing information goods," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 187-199, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:41:y:1993:i:4:p:361-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-1821 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.