Go to Home Go to Module 8 Slides for this module (draft)
Is there anything you shouldn’t be allowed to buy and sell? Morals are an important part of markets: a society’s culture actively shapes what can and cannot be part of the market.
Prof. Al Roth speaks about repugnant transactions (transactions that some people want to do, and other people don’t want them to do). He presents his work on kidney exchange: while no one opposes kidney transplantation, including living kidney donation, almost every country in the world has laws against paying for kidneys. Then, he touches on a wide range of repugnant transactions, which have changed over time (e.g. interest on loans, markets for slaves) and are different in different places. He argues that these are important phenomena that we, as economists, need to understand better.
You can also watch the complete talk here Repugnant Markets and Prohibited Transactions
Questionnaire on repugnant transactions
Questionnaire based on Levitt & Venkatesh An empirical analysis of street-level prostitution.
Discussion: Connect to my Zoom on Tuesday, August 18 at 16:15. I will answer your questions. After that we will discuss together about “Should Everything Be for Sale?”
Summary:
- Morals are an important part of markets: a society’s culture actively shapes what can and cannot be part of the market.
- Repugnant transactions: some people want to engage in it, and others do not think they should be allowed to
- Often a transactions become repugnant when you add money to it
Suggested movie for tonight: Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Go to Home Go to Module 8
Marco Piovesan 