We solve Ireland's (1994) conspicuous consumption model (where social-status concerns are introduced into the utility function) for Cobb-Douglas (CD) utility. In the resulting generalized CD consumer model, Engel curves are no longer limited to linearity. In the homothetic CD case, total...

This article challenges the statement that “the only legally relevant function of a trademark is to impart information as to the source of the product.” Information about the source of the product undoubtedly helps the consumer choose the product she wants from a set of possible products....

Many studies have shown that people display an apparent overconfidence. In particular, it is common for a majority of people to describe themselves as better than average. The literature takes for granted that this better-than-average effect is problematic. We argue, however, that, even...

This paper lays a foundation for a new theory of manipulation, based on the misprioritization of (truthful) information. Since consumers review only a subset of all available information, firms can harm consumers by prioritizing information that maximizes firms’ profits but has a smaller...

Markets for consumer financial services are growing rapidly in low and middle income countries and being transformed by digital technologies and platforms. With growth and change come concerns about protecting consumers from firm exploitation due to imperfect information and contracting as well...

People consume not only physical goods but also social interaction, and consumer choices depend on both intrinsic motivations (preferences for consumption) and extrinsic motivations (how choices impact social interactions). In this paper, we study how social identity, preference, and utility...

This Article argues that freedom of contract will take on different meaning in a world in which ubiquitous information about places, goods, people, firms and contract terms is available to contracting parties anywhere, any time. In particular, our increasingly “augmented reality” calls into...

Each year, millions of financially distressed consumers in the U.S. face a difficult choice among the debt relief options available to them. This paper describes the options available to borrowers who seek assistance in managing their debts and discusses the information and incentive problems...

The paper solves a puzzle related to unsecured credit and the use of credit scores. With credit scores increasingly present in credit decisions, and with the increased use of credit cards, especially in categories at risk of large negative health shocks, asymmetry of information between banks...

Consumers often cannot judge the quality of goods and services at the time of the purchase decision. The goodwill model explains how the market participants deal with this problem. It makes a distinction between markets for search goods, experience goods and credence goods. In markets for...