The models Feldstein and Rothschild (1974) and Jorgenson (1974) adopted to highlight the nature of the replacement ratio were identical. Yet, even though the theorems they derived from them were complementary and reinforced each other, the authors reached diametrically opposite conclusions....

We revisit the idea that textbook publishers revise frequently in order to "kill off" the market for used books. While a popular idea, conflicting durable good models suggest alternatives to planned obsolescence. To address this particular case, we develop a model of the textbook market that...

This paper studies the effect of durability on the financing of durable assets. We show that more durable assets require larger down payments of internal funds per unit of capital making them harder to finance, because durability affects the price of an asset and hence the overall financing need...

Planned obsolescence is a practice that anticipates the entropy cycle of a product from an objective point of view or just from the consumer's perspective. Recent practices, especially in the electronic goods market, add a second type of obsolescence, caused after the goods are in the consumer's...

This study examines the declining usage lifespan of household consumer durables in the United States between 1970 and 2018, situating the phenomenon within a heterodox political economy framework. While mainstream economic narratives attribute the rising rate of consumer durable waste over this...