Some Anomalies Arising from Bandwagons that Impart Upward Sloping Segments to Market Demand
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Micha Gisser, professor emeritus, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico (MA and a PH.D, University of Chicago, 1962.) He has pub…
James E. McClure (Ph.D., Purdue University, 1983) is Professor of Economics at Ball State University, where his research focus is microecono…
Giray Ökten (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University, 1997) is Associate Professor in Department of Mathematics at Florida State University. Hi…
Gary Santoni (Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 1972) is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Ball State University, where his research focus i…
Abstract
In Gary Becker’s (1991) theory of bandwagon effects, a portion of market demand is positively sloped. In this, he ignores Harvey Leibenstein’s (1950) hypothesis that market demands for bandwagon goods are everywhere negatively sloped (stemming from scarcity imposed constraints). A substantial literature now invokes Becker’s bandwagon, also ignoring Leibenstein. Two anomalies attend Becker’s bandwagon demand when it slopes upward: 1) straightforward parameterizations are inconsistent with the economic requirement that quantities demanded be non-negative; 2) regardless of parameterization, the comparative statics of Becker’s demand carry unworldly implications.
Micha Gisser, professor emeritus, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico (MA and a PH.D, University of Chicago, 1962.) He has pub…
James E. McClure (Ph.D., Purdue University, 1983) is Professor of Economics at Ball State University, where his research focus is microecono…
Giray Ökten (Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University, 1997) is Associate Professor in Department of Mathematics at Florida State University. Hi…
Gary Santoni (Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 1972) is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Ball State University, where his research focus i…