Sostenibilità e mercati nelle teorie del benessere e del comportamento dei consumatori

The relationship between the market and sustainable development is strictly linked with the comparison between the private interests, directed towards the economic growth, and the public interests, orien- tated instead towards the maximization of the public welfare, accor- ding to a vision of development that considers not only the economic growth, but also the environmental and social preservation. As part of this comparison, it has to be taken into account the failure of the mar- ket, because of information asymmetries and the presence of certain elements, such as public goods and externalities, which are funda- mental for the achievement of sustainability but not allocated by mar- kets. In this paper the evolution of food demand is examined, highli- ghting the meaningful changes in the consumer behavior, linked with the post-modern tendencies and the modern vision of well being. In the face of this new demand characterized by more responsible consu- mers, on the other side, the supply has the opportunity to improve its competitiveness by adopting strategies of diversification, with the ideal extension of the boundaries of the farms from a conventional towards a multifunctional agriculture. Through the description of these dynamics of supply and demand, it is highlighted that such an extension of the ideal boundaries of farms can provide an opportunity to create synergies between the objectives of competitiveness of the primary sector with the public expectations of sustainability: this is possible thanks to the reduction of the market failure due to the expansion of farm boundaries, through which certain public goods and externalities, that agriculture produ- ces, become productive resources for the same farms, contributing to expand the assortment of goods and/or increase their quality and, con- sequently, increase the revenues of farms.