Beyond Outcomes: Measuring Procedural Utility

People not only obtain utility from actual outcomes but also from the conditionswhich lead to these outcomes. The paper proposes an economic concept of this notion ofprocedural utility. Preferences beyond outcome can be manifold. We distinguish proceduralutility people get from institutions as such, i.e. from how allocative and redistributivedecisions are taken, procedural utility from activities towards which people have an intrinsicattitude and procedural utility from the way being treated in interaction with other people. Inan empirical application, it is studied whether people gain procedural utility fromparticipating in the political decision-making process itself, irrespective of the outcome.Utility is measured by individuals’ reported subjective well-being. We find that participationrights provide procedural utility in terms of a feeling of self-determination and influence. Incontrast, actual participation and use of participation rights does not.