IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reesec/v49y2021is2p557-586.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conspicuous consumption and household indebtedness

Author

Listed:
  • Kwan Ok Lee
  • Masaki Mori

Abstract

Using a novel, large data set of consumer transactions in Singapore, we study how conspicuous consumption affects household indebtedness. The coexistence of private housing (condominiums) and subsidized public housing (Housing Development Board [HDB]) allows us to identify conspicuous consumers. Conditional on income and other socioeconomic characteristics, those who choose to reside in condominiums—considered a status good in Singapore—are likely to be more conspicuous than their counterparts living in HDB units. We find that condominium residents spend considerably more (by 25%) on conspicuous goods but not differently on inconspicuous goods. Compared with their matched HDB counterparts, these consumers with higher conspicuous motivation carry 7% more credit card debt and 108% more delinquent credit card debt. Our results suggest that status‐seeking‐induced conspicuous consumption is an important determinant of household indebtedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Kwan Ok Lee & Masaki Mori, 2021. "Conspicuous consumption and household indebtedness," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S2), pages 557-586, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:49:y:2021:i:s2:p:557-586
    DOI: 10.1111/1540-6229.12305
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6229.12305
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1540-6229.12305?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thorstein Veblen, 1899. "Mr. Cummings's Strictures on "The Theory of the Leisure Class"," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 106-106.
    2. Cengiz Tunc & Abdullah Yavas, 2017. "Collateral Damage: The Impact of Mortgage Debt on U.S. Savings," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 712-733, September.
    3. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst & Nikolai Roussanov, 2009. "Conspicuous Consumption and Race," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 425-467.
    4. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "The Determinants of Attitudes toward Strategic Default on Mortgages," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1473-1515, August.
    5. Dimitris Georgarakos & Michael Haliassos & Giacomo Pasini, 2014. "Household Debt and Social Interactions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(5), pages 1404-1433.
    6. Michael Bailey & Ruiqing Cao & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel, 2016. "Social Networks and Housing Markets," NBER Working Papers 22258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Ed Hopkins & Tatiana Kornienko, 2004. "Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1085-1107, September.
    8. Johannes Stroebel, 2016. "Social Networks and Housing Market Investments," 2016 Meeting Papers 485, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Veblen, Thorstein, 1899. "The Theory of the Leisure Class," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1899.
    10. Giacomo De Giorgi & Anders Frederiksen & Luigi Pistaferri, 2020. "Consumption Network Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 130-163.
    11. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju & Seppo Ikäheimo, 2008. "Social Influence and Consumption: Evidence from the Automobile Purchases of Neighbors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 735-753, November.
    12. Gourieroux, Christian & Monfort, Alain & Trognon, Alain, 1984. "Pseudo Maximum Likelihood Methods: Applications to Poisson Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 701-720, May.
    13. Michael D. Carr & Arjun Jayadev, 2015. "Relative Income and Indebtedness: Evidence from Panel Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(4), pages 759-772, December.
    14. Kwan Ok Lee & Masaki Mori, 2016. "Do Conspicuous Consumers Pay Higher Housing Premiums? Spatial and Temporal Variation in the United States," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 44(3), pages 726-763, July.
    15. Ori Heffetz, 2011. "A Test of Conspicuous Consumption: Visibility and Income Elasticities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(4), pages 1101-1117, November.
    16. Cengiz Tunc & Abdullah Yavas, 2016. "Not all credit is created equal : Mortgage vs non-mortgage debt and private saving rate in Turkey," Central Bank Review, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, vol. 16(1), pages 25-32.
    17. Sumit Agarwal & Wenlan Qian, 2014. "Consumption and Debt Response to Unanticipated Income Shocks: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Singapore," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 4205-4230, December.
    18. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    19. Marco Di Maggio & Amir Kermani & Benjamin J. Keys & Tomasz Piskorski & Rodney Ramcharan & Amit Seru & Vincent Yao, 2017. "Interest Rate Pass-Through: Mortgage Rates, Household Consumption, and Voluntary Deleveraging," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(11), pages 3550-3588, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ying’ai Piao & Meiru Li & Hongyuan Sun & Ying Yang, 2023. "Income Inequality, Household Debt, and Consumption Growth in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, February.
    2. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2022. "The Log of Gravity at 15," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(3), pages 423-437, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bing Han & David Hirshleifer & Johan Walden, 2023. "Visibility Bias in the Transmission of Consumption Beliefs and Undersaving," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(3), pages 1647-1704, June.
    2. Quintana-Domeque, Climent & Wohlfart, Johannes, 2016. "“Relative concerns for consumption at the top”: An intertemporal analysis for the UK," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 172-194.
    3. Banuri, Sheheryar & Nguyen, Ha, 2023. "Borrowing to keep up (with the Joneses): Inequality, debt, and conspicuous consumption," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 222-242.
    4. Wenhua Di & Yichen Su, 2021. "Conspicuous Consumption: Vehicle Purchases by Non-Prime Consumers," Working Papers 2107, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    5. Oindrila Dey & Swapnendu Banerjee, 2022. "Incentives, Status and Thereafter: A Critical Survey," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 11(1), pages 95-115, June.
    6. David Clingingsmith & Roman M. Sheremeta, 2018. "Status and the demand for visible goods: experimental evidence on conspicuous consumption," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 21(4), pages 877-904, December.
    7. Li, Linyang, 2018. "Financial inclusion and poverty: The role of relative income," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 165-191.
    8. Noam Gruber, 2023. "A relative answer to the growth–saving puzzle," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 139-171, August.
    9. Pascal Courty & Merwan Engineer, 2019. "A pure hedonic theory of utility and status: Unhappy but efficient invidious comparisons," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 21(4), pages 601-621, August.
    10. Omer Moav and & Zvika Neeman, 2012. "Saving Rates and Poverty: The Role of Conspicuous Consumption and Human Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(563), pages 933-956, September.
    11. Qiao, Kunyuan & Dowell, Glen, 2022. "Environmental concerns, income inequality, and purchase of environmentally-friendly products: A longitudinal study of U.S. counties (2010-2017)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    12. Ghiglino,C. & Langtry, A., 2023. "Status Substitution and Conspicuous Consumption," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2324, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    13. Bramoullé, Y. & Ghiglino, C., 2024. "Status Consumption in Networks: A Reference Dependent Approach," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2414, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Thomas Aronsson & Olof Johansson‐Stenman, 2013. "Conspicuous Leisure: Optimal Income Taxation When Both Relative Consumption and Relative Leisure Matter," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 115(1), pages 155-175, January.
    15. Alastair Langtry & Christian Ghinglino, 2023. "Status substitution and conspicuous consumption," Papers 2303.07008, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    16. Kevin B. Grier & Daniel L. Hicks & Weici Yuan, 2016. "Marriage Market Matching And Conspicuous Consumption In China," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 1251-1262, April.
    17. Boto-García, David & Baños-Pino, José Francisco, 2022. "Social influence and bandwagon effects in tourism travel," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. Bramoullé, Y. & Ghiglino, C., 2024. "Status Consumption in Networks: A Reference Dependent Approach," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2409, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Khamis, Melanie & Prakash, Nishith & Siddique, Zahra, 2012. "Consumption and social identity: Evidence from India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 353-371.
    20. Omer Gokcekus & Yui Suzuki, 2014. "Is there a Corruption-effect on Conspicuous Consumption?," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 8(3), pages 215-235, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:49:y:2021:i:s2:p:557-586. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/areueea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.