How can positional concerns prevent the adoption of socially desirable innovations?

Salima Salhi (1) , Gilles Grolleau (2, 3) , Naoufel Mzoughi (4) , Angela Sutan (5)

1 CREAD - Centre de recherches en économie appliquée au développement
2 LAMETA - Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée
3 Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier
4 ECODEVELOPPEMENT - Unité de recherche d'Écodéveloppement
5 LESSAC - Laboratoire d'Expérimentation en Sciences Sociales et Analyse des Comportements

We study the role of positional concerns in explaining the (non-) diffusion of profitable and environmentally friendly innovations in situations where there is no conventional prisoner dilemma. Based on anecdotal evidence from farming activities, we introduce the concept of negative positional goods, that is, goods that destroy status in a given reference group, and show how interactions between status concerns and profitability can lead to unexpected outcomes. Several policy implications are drawn.

Mots clés: behavior; innovation; sustainable development; status

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Salima Salhi, Gilles Grolleau, Naoufel Mzoughi, Angela Sutan. How can positional concerns prevent the adoption of socially desirable innovations?. Journal of Economic Issues, 2012, 46 (3), pp.799-810. ⟨10.2753/JEI0021-3624460311⟩. ⟨hal-01506137⟩