Producers of many commodities pay for generic advertising, which is a public good for producers and, in cases like healthy foods, enhances social welfare. Though most programs were initially funded through the Voluntary Contribution Mechanism, many became mandatory to mitigate free riding. This...

Psychologists have described the working of the human brain as a combination of two systems. One system is intuitive and automatic and the other is reflective and rational. In this paper, we build on such a dual process model as developed by Loewenstein and O’Donoghue, to examine stigma in a...

We examine the provision of family public goods using experimental economics methods. With sufficient altruism and shared resource arrangements, families can provide the efficient level of family public goods. Becker's Rotten Kid Theorem asserts that transfers from altruistic parents will induce...

Economists have traditionally viewed the behavioral response to risk as continuous and proportional. In contrast, psychologists have often contended that people have little control over their response to risk that is dichotomous, non-proportional, visceral, and fear-based. In extreme cases, this...

This chapter discusses several efforts by economists and others to develop criteria of sustainability with respect to both particular resources and the whole economic system. These are meant to provide ethical guidance concerning appropriate behavior where resource depletion or environmental...