Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets

27 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2006 Last revised: 17 Sep 2022

See all articles by Alvin E. Roth

Alvin E. Roth

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Dept. of Economics, Stanford University

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Date Written: November 2006

Abstract

This essay examines how repugnance sometimes constrains what transactions and markets we see. When my colleagues and I have helped design markets and allocation procedures, we have often found that distaste for certain kinds of transactions is a real constraint, every bit as real as the constraints imposed by technology or by the requirements of incentives and efficiency. I'll first consider a range of examples, from slavery and indentured servitude (which once were not as repugnant as they now are) to lending money for interest (which used to be widely repugnant and is now not), and from bans on eating horse meat in California to bans on dwarf tossing in France. An example of special interest will be the widespread laws against the buying and selling of organs for transplantation. The historical record suggests that while repugnance can change over time, change can be quite slow.

Suggested Citation

Roth, Alvin E. and Roth, Alvin E., Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets (November 2006). NBER Working Paper No. w12702, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=945342

Alvin E. Roth (Contact Author)

Dept. of Economics, Stanford University ( email )

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