The Economics of Obituaries

Intinghero, Raffaella ; Lazzaretto, Pietro ; Manasse, Paolo (2025) The Economics of Obituaries. Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze economiche, p. 39. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/8484. In: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE (1209). ISSN 2282-6483.
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Abstract

Obituaries are traditionally seen as expressions of grief and remembrance. We argue that they also have an underappreciated economic role: they are vehicles for strategic social and economic signaling. In this paper, we develop a simple theoretical framework in which paid obituaries serve as a form of self-promotion for the authors, especially when the deceased is a prominent public figure. We then test this hypothesis using data from Italy, exploiting the variation in mortality caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment. We show that higher mortality rates are associated with increases in per-capita obituaries, driven not by informational needs but by strategic advertising motives. Our results suggest that obituaries function as a marketplace for visibility and status, where social and economic incentives intersect.

Abstract
Tipologia del documento
Monografia (Working paper)
Autori
AutoreAffiliazioneORCID
Intinghero, RaffaellaUniversità della Svizzera Italiana, Faculty of Economics
Lazzaretto, PietroUniversità della Svizzera Italiana, Faculty of Economics
Manasse, PaoloAlma Mater Università di Bologna, Faculty of Economics0000-0002-9238-3584
Parole chiave
Economics of Obituaries, Status Signaling, Social Networks, Media and News, COVID-19, Text Analysis.
Settori scientifico-disciplinari
ISSN
2282-6483
DOI
Data di deposito
27 Ago 2025 08:22
Ultima modifica
27 Ago 2025 08:23
URI

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