ABSTRACT
Gary Becker (1965) pointed out that ‘utility’ does not come about simply by purchasing market goods and services. Similarly, Kelvin Lancaster (1966) suggested that consumers are not really interested in the goods bought in the market per se but are looking for certain ‘characteristics’ offered by the goods. What Becker called ‘basic commodities’, Lancaster called ‘characteristics’. Both Becker and Lancaster attempt to go behind the market goods to discover what really matters to utility. It was Becker, however, who pioneered the concept of household production. In contrast, Lancaster thought the ‘characteristics’ of goods were inherent in the goods purchased.
