Evolutionary-economic policies for sustainable consumption

a r t i c l e i n f o Policy prescriptions for sustainable consumption have been dominated by neoclassical economics, which is built around the notions of market equilibrium, utility maximization, and exogenous preferences. There are concerns that neoclassical economics is inadequate to guide policy prescriptions in the presence of evolving preferences and complex dynamics. Evolutionary economics provides a more realistic account of individual behavior underlying economic processes. It offers a framework for studying complex socioeconomic interactions and exploring their properties. As a consequence, it may offer a better approach for the analysis of policies aimed at inducing fundamental changes in behaviors, technologies and institutions in the direction of increased sustainability. However, a coherent evolutionary-economic approach to economic policies has been missing so far. In particular, policy criteria for evaluating evolutionary outcomes and processes are ambiguous. The paper discusses the implications of employing the evolutionary-economic approaches to study sustainable consumption and policy from different ethical standpoints. Increasing consumption driven by growth in real income in industrial countries has been a source of environmental degradation and stress, placing sustainable consumption high on the political agenda Many sustainability policies focus on the improvements in resource productivity and eco-efficiency of processes and products (Mont and Plepys, 2008). However, technological change or improvements in resource productivity alone are unlikely to bring about structural changes in the economy much needed to curb greenhouse emissions (UNEP, 2010). For instance, energy savings from the improvements in energy efficiency have been offset by an increase in output in the past (Sorrell and Dimitropoulos, 2007). In this context, the transition to sustainability is likely to require wider changes in behaviors, technologies , values and worldviews (Beddoe et al., 2008). Designing sustainability policies requires a theory of consumer behavior which would deal realistically with how individuals respond to novelty (Nelson and Consoli, 2010), how habits and practices emerge and constitute a 'normal way' of life (Shove, 2004), and account for the evolution of wants and socially-constructed desires (Witt, 2011). So far, policy analysis has been dominated by neoclassi-cal economic thinking, which ignores these aspects of consumer behavior. There are concerns that neoclassical economics is inadequate to guide policy prescriptions in the presence of evolving preferences , complex socioeconomic interactions and deep uncertainty (e. It focuses on exogenous preferences and static equilibrium outcomes, and thus ignores preference change and possible long-term effects of implemented policies. Evolutionary economics offers a …