Transactional fairness in consumer markets

Lyons, Bruce and Sugden, Robert (2023) Transactional fairness in consumer markets. Behavioural Public Policy. ISSN 2398-063X

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Abstract

There is growing public concern about the ‘unfairness’ of many pricing practices that have become common in consumer, particularly digital, markets. Industrial and behavioural economists have developed theories that explain the conditions under which these practices are profitable for firms, and their implications for consumer welfare. We identify a mismatch between the welfare economic principles used in this theoretical work and the normative perspective in which these practices are viewed as unfair. We develop a concept of ‘transactional fairness’, grounded in the normative approach of Sugden’s Community of Advantage, that is reflective of public concerns. Transactional fairness is complementary to established criteria of economic efficiency and distributional equity, but is based entirely on the relationship between individual buyer and seller. It establishes clear principles with realistic information requirements that are appropriate for compliance by firms. Regulation based on this approach can help to restore public faith in markets.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	unfair pricing,consumer protection,transactional fairness,digital regulation,economics, econometrics and finance(all),3*,this paper addresses a major issue in market regulation arising out of recent developments in behavioural economics, and builds on sugden’s well-received book the community of advantage (winner of the american philosophical association’s 2019 joseph b. gittler prize). the main uk regulatory agencies have shown a lot of interest in the approach developed in the paper. behavioural public policy is a relatively new journal but is already recognises as a leading field journal. ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2000
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economics
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Behavioural Economics Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Economic Theory Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Industrial Economics
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	29 Jun 2023 09:32
Last Modified:	18 Aug 2023 13:32
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92532
DOI:	10.1017/bpp.2023.23

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