consumption

Consumption is not an independent economic category, but is part of the process of >production, such that analysis of consumption is amenable to functional analysis. However, since knowledge of actors who consume is never complete and perfect, there is much leeway for non-functional consumption in certain stages of the evolutionary process. Such "un-productive" consumption can result, for example, from drift in economic environments with low selective pressure, the general impact of status >competition and from the behavioral category of play as expression of >creativity. Furthermore, given the complexity of competition and vsr processes in the economy, there is always scope for conflict and contradictions between different forms of behavior related to consumption. Therefore, functional analysis of consumption always has to be based on hypotheses about productive and adaptive functions that need to be corroborated by empirical research, and which are to be based on a general theory of >needs.

Viewing consumption as an inextricable part of production implies, amongst others, that consumption also shows the emergence of >novelty and the role of >creativity. Actually, the production of new goods is not possible without a corresponding innovation on the demand side, so that innovation always includes novelties in consumption. On the micro-level, this requires a closer integration between EE and more practical disciplines in management science like marketing. On the macro-level, there is a need to complement analysis of technological change with the inquiry into the evolving knowledge about human needs and to fulfill these. The latter is a complex process affecting large numbers of actors and hence, changes of common knowledge and >culture.

Basic References

Recent EE research on consumption is well documented in a special issue of the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Vol. 11/1, 2001, edited by Ulrich Witt, Economic Growth - What happens at the Demand Side?

need   creativity
consumption   production