Abstract.
This paper studies the demand for a distinction good – the prestige car – and examines how this demand for distinction influences the evolution of the product. We focus on two very different sorts of distinction car: the Rolls Royce and the Ferrari. These two examples help us to articulate two polar approaches to the demand for distinction: distinction through antiquity and distinction through novelty. The paper sets out a model of the demand for distinction, and uses it to describe two trajectories along which the prestige car – and the demand for it – may evolve.
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Swann, G. The demand for distinction and the evolution of the prestige car. J Evol Econ 11, 59–75 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00003856
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00003856