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Early contributions to the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon

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  • Attilio Trezzini

Abstract

During the 1920s some American women economists developed theoretical, empirical and historical analyses that constituted a theory of consumption. The original formulations of this approach were based on the view, theorised by T. Veblen, that consuming certain goods makes it possible to identify with specific social groups. These analyses were explicitly alternative to the theories of consumption based on marginal utility. In the 1930s, however, the analyses of a second generation of women economists became exclusively empirical and the theoretical features that made the approach original and an alternative to marginalism were lost.

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  • Attilio Trezzini, 2016. "Early contributions to the economics of consumption as a social phenomenon," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 272-296, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:23:y:2016:i:2:p:272-296
    DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2014.881899
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roger Mason, 1998. "The Economics of Conspicuous Consumption," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1508.
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    Cited by:

    1. Attilio Trezzini, 2017. "The Social Significance of Consumption and the Elasticity of Output to Demand in the Long Run: A Reply to Gualerzi," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 157-161, January.
    2. Alberti, Manfredi & Asso, Pier Francesco, 2024. "Hazel Kyrk and the rise of empirical research in interwar America," SocArXiv 2uqya, Center for Open Science.
    3. Luca Fiorito & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2018. "Positional goods and social welfare: a note on George Pendleton Watkins’ neglected contribution," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 460-472, May.
    4. Claudio Cantaro, 2022. "L'approccio classico-keynesiano e la teoria del ruolo sociale del consumo (The classical-Keynesian approach and the Theory of the Social Role of Consumption)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 75(299), pages 285-306.
    5. Philippy, David, 2021. "Ellen Richards’s Home Economics Movement and the Birth of the Economics of Consumption," OSF Preprints v8yfk, Center for Open Science.

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