Abstract
Well-being can be promoted in two ways. Firstly, by affecting the
quantity, quality and allocation of bundles of consumption (the
Resource Approach), and secondly, by influencing how people
benefit from their goods (the Taste Approach). Whereas the
former is considered an ingredient of economic analysis, the latter
has conventionally not been included in that field. By identifying
the gain the Taste Approach might yield, the article questions
whether this asymmetry is justified. If successfully exercised, the
Taste Approach might not only enable people to raise their wellbeing,
but also provide solutions to a number of issues such as
sustainable development and global justice.
The author argues that recently developed accounts such as
Happiness Economics (HE) and Libertarian Paternalism (LP) both can
be considered specifications of the Taste Approach. Furthermore
a third specification is identified: Inexpensive Preference Formation
(IPF). Whereas LP suggests that choice architecture should be
exercised when rationality fails, IPF holds that governance in
certain instances should improve choices also in absence of no
such failure.