Positional good
Etymology
The concept was introduced by the economist Fred Hirsch in his 1976 book Social Limits to Growth, which distinguished positional goods from material goods that everyone can have more of. "Positional" points to the fact that the good’s worth depends on your rank relative to others, not on the thing itself. The idea has since become a staple of writing on inequality, status competition, and why rising incomes don’t always raise satisfaction.
noun phrase · /puh-ZISH-un-ul good/
A good whose value comes mainly from having more of it than other people, so it can’t be enjoyed by everyone at once.
What it names
Why some prizes are structurally scarce — a "top" university, a corner office, waterfront property — such that if everyone gets one, no one has it, which explains arms races that no amount of production can satisfy.
Example
Elite college admission is a positional good, which is why expanding the applicant pool intensifies the scramble rather than relieving it.
Related idea
A Veblen good is desired because its high price signals status; a positional good is defined more broadly by relative scarcity, so a quiet, exclusive spot can be positional without being expensively conspicuous.