Résumé
// ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: Musgrave's so-called merit goods, introduced in 1957, intend to deal with situations where the social weight or concern of a good differs from the information given by individual preferences. Merit goods are often referred to as a case for government intervention in education, health care or biodiversity protection policies. But theoretical roots of this concept seem a bit fuzzy and are, at best, very controversial. To put it crudely, what - if anything - can justify that government choices rule out individual choices? The paper deals with this issue. What role do merit goods play in economic theory? The first part of the paper defines the concept of merit goods and emphasizes the theoretical issues at stake. Afterward, we show how recent developments in economic theory, especially behavorial economics, provide a useful framework for the recognition of the concept, both as for individual decision making theory as for social choice. Reproduced by permission of Bibliothèque de Sciences Po