The Gustibus est Disputandum: Building a bridge between mainstream economics and Max-Neef’s Theory of Fundamental Needs

This chapter starts by postulating that Stigler and Becker's theory that preferences are exogenous aligns with Manfred Max-Neef's (MMN's) Theory of Fundamental Needs. Moreover, after a revision of the most well-known theories of subjective and objective well-being, it presents a conceptual framework to integrate neoclassical theory of preferences and MMN's Theory of Fundamental Needs. In building the framework, three aspects of the Theory of Fundamental Needs are considered: (i) that fundamental needs are universal and stable, (ii) the concept of satisfiers, and (iii) the production structure aimed to reduce need deprivation. This framework is then applied to two of Max-Neef's fundamental needs, the need for survival and the need for affection. It then provides insights from the model regarding labour productivity, cooperative versus non-cooperative behaviour, and the effect of uncertainty on the fulfilment of these two fundamental needs. This is a first step to building a bridge between MMN's theory and neoclassical economics. Given the contemporaneous importance of Manfred's ideas, this is a necessary step.