The Welfare Effects of the Introduction of New Products in Developing Countries

Abstract

Thus far the analysis has been entirely static — the goods available, their prices and sizes have been taken as given for the analysis. But there is nothing inherently desirable about these. All are the result of past and present decisions made in specific economic, political and institutional contexts on behalf of, and with different implications for, the disparate socio-economic groups in society. Indeed, we shall argue that the result of these forces over time is in general such as to produce a systematically inegalitarian welfare impact in the context of less developed countries. This chapter provides a framework within which the welfare impact of new products on poor countries can be evaluated. The following chapter then provides evidence from the laundry soap and detergent market in Barbados to illustrate and support the argument.KeywordsWelfare EffectRich CountryConsumer ChoiceEfficiency FrontierIndifference CurveThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.