Beyond Böhm-Bawerk: Searching for a place for relations in economic theory

Abstract

Although, in the nineteenth century, Böhm-Bawerk remarked that relations as a category are distinct from goods, economists today increasingly subsume relations as a particular category of goods, both semantically and by applying methods like Contingent Valuation. This paper shows where the main distinctions between goods and relations lie. It categorizes economically relevant relations along the lines of symmetry and relevance for bystanders. The main obstacles to applying valuation techniques developed for public goods are outlined.

Keywords:

• Böhm-Bawerk
• relations
• goods