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Addictive Consumption under Conditions of Risk
Author(s) -
CLARKE HARRY
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2000.tb00022.x
Subject(s) - consumption (sociology) , addiction , economics , business , psychology , sociology , psychiatry , social science
Addictive consumption involves health and other risks. This paper analyzes how such risks influence steady state consumption and equilibrium addiction. Mortality risks deter addictive consumption provided they are strongly addiction‐dependent. If however risks are addiction‐independent they may increase addictive consumption. Risks, which lead not to death but to large ongoing disutility, also deter addictive consumption provided they are strongly addiction‐dependent. Non‐steady state extensions of these results hold provided large enough disutility is associated with addiction‐dependent risk. Increasing addiction‐dependent risk and reducing addiction‐independent risk promotes the social objective of reducing addictive consumption.