IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ratsoc/v28y2016i1p52-82.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The willingness-to-pay for Caplanian irrationality

Author

Listed:
  • Ryan H Murphy

Abstract

Bryan Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter popularizes the “near-neoclassical†demand curve for irrationality. This article attempts to show that there is a demand for irrationality at prices higher than zero. This may change policy implications. Many instances of consumer behavior, such as paying a premium for locally produced and “fair trade†goods, the use of local currencies, and the failure to vaccinate children, are other instances of the means-ends irrationality that Caplan observes in political markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan H Murphy, 2016. "The willingness-to-pay for Caplanian irrationality," Rationality and Society, , vol. 28(1), pages 52-82, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:28:y:2016:i:1:p:52-82
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463115605478
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1043463115605478
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1043463115605478?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Victor V. Claar & Colleen E. Haight, 2015. "Fair Trade Coffee: Correspondence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 215-216, Winter.
    2. Cameron, Trudy Ann & DeShazo, J.R., 2013. "Demand for health risk reductions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 87-109.
    3. Bryan Caplan, 2000. "Rational Irrationality: A Framework for the Neoclassical-Behavioral Debate," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 191-211, Spring.
    4. Lomborg,Bjørn, 2001. "The Skeptical Environmentalist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521010689, October.
    5. Colleen Haight & David R. Henderson, 2010. "Fair Trade Is Counterproductive And Unfair: Rejoinder," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 88-91, March.
    6. Loureiro, Maria L. & Lotade, Justus, 2005. "Do fair trade and eco-labels in coffee wake up the consumer conscience?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 129-138, April.
    7. James Feyrer, 2019. "Trade and Income—Exploiting Time Series in Geography," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 1-35, October.
    8. W. Kip Viscusi & Joseph E. Harrington & John M. Vernon, 2005. "Economics of Regulation and Antitrust, 4th Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 4, volume 1, number 026222075x, April.
    9. Lydia Zepeda & Cong Nie, 2012. "What are the odds of being an organic or local food shopper? Multivariate analysis of US food shopper lifestyle segments," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(4), pages 467-480, December.
    10. David R. Henderson, 2008. "Fair Trade Is Counterproductive – And Unfair," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 62-64, September.
    11. Bryan Caplan, 2003. "The Logic of Collective Belief," Rationality and Society, , vol. 15(2), pages 218-242, May.
    12. Kim Darby & Marvin T. Batte & Stan Ernst & Brian Roe, 2008. "Decomposing Local: A Conjoint Analysis of Locally Produced Foods," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 476-486.
    13. Paul Krugman, 1997. "Pop Internationalism," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262611333, April.
    14. Peter Griffiths, 2010. "Lack Of Rigour In Defending Fairtrade: A Reply To Alastair Smith," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 45-49, June.
    15. Wittman, Donald, 1989. "Why Democracies Produce Efficient Results," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1395-1424, December.
    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. Brad R. Taylor, 2020. "The psychological foundations of rational ignorance: biased heuristics and decision costs," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 70-88, March.
    2. Ryan H. Murphy, 2019. "The rationality of literal Tide Pod consumption," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 111-122, July.

    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. Bryan Caplan & Edward Stringham, 2005. "Mises, bastiat, public opinion, and public choice," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 79-105.
    2. Randall Holcombe, 2005. "Government growth in the twenty-first century," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 95-114, July.
    3. Hindsley, Paul & McEvoy, David M. & Morgan, O. Ashton, 2020. "Consumer Demand for Ethical Products and the Role of Cultural Worldviews: The Case of Direct-Trade Coffee," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Tavárez, Héctor & Álamo, Carmen & Cortés,Mildred, 2020. "Differentiated coffees and their potential markets in Puerto Rico: An economic valuation approach," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 20(02), December.
    5. Bryan Caplan, 2003. "The Logic of Collective Belief," Rationality and Society, , vol. 15(2), pages 218-242, May.
    6. Claire Chambolle & Sylvaine Poret, 2013. "When fairtrade contracts for some are profitable for others," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 40(5), pages 835-871, December.
    7. Marco A. Palma & Alba J. Collart & Christopher J. Chammoun, 2015. "Information Asymmetry in Consumer Perceptions of Quality-Differentiated Food Products," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 596-612, November.
    8. Andreas P. Kyriacou, 2011. "Rational Irrationality and Group Size: The Effect of Biased Beliefs on Individual Contributions Towards Collective Goods," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 109-130, January.
    9. Kumar, Sushant & Murphy, Mikko & Talwar, Shalini & Kaur, Puneet & Dhir, Amandeep, 2021. "What drives brand love and purchase intentions toward the local food distribution system? A study of social media-based REKO (fair consumption) groups," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. Julius Wenzig & Tim Gruchmann, 2018. "Consumer Preferences for Local Food: Testing an Extended Norm Taxonomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-23, April.
    11. Barnes, Ryan N. & Bosworth, Ryan C. & Bailey, DeeVon & Curtis, Kynda R., 2014. "Connecting Sensory Quality Characteristics and Local Designations to Willingness to Pay for Cheese at the Retail Level," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 17(3), pages 1-24, September.
    12. Justin Fox, 2007. "Government transparency and policymaking," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 23-44, April.
    13. Dick Durevall, 2020. "Fairtrade and Market Efficiency: Fairtrade-Labeled Coffee in the Swedish Coffee Market," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, April.
    14. Sittidaj Pongkijvorasin & Steven R. McGreevy, 2021. "Loving local beans? The challenge of valorizing local food in the Thai highlands," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(12), pages 17305-17328, December.
    15. Bryan Caplan, 2006. "Terrorism: The relevance of the rational choice model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 91-107, July.
    16. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 2002. "Political economics and public finance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 24, pages 1549-1659, Elsevier.
    17. Jean-Marc Siroën, 2016. "L'OMC face à la crise des négociations multilatérales," Working Papers hal-01399859, HAL.
    18. Jim Butcher, 2006. "The United Nations International Year of Ecotourism: a critical analysis of development implications," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 6(2), pages 146-156, April.
    19. Michael J. Fell & Alexandra Schneiders & David Shipworth, 2019. "Consumer Demand for Blockchain-Enabled Peer-to-Peer Electricity Trading in the United Kingdom: An Online Survey Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-25, October.
    20. Aurora García‐Gallego & Nikolaos Georgantzís, 2009. "Market Effects of Changes in Consumers' Social Responsibility," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 235-262, March.

    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:sae:ratsoc:v:28:y:2016:i:1:p:52-82. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.