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Income Comparisons and Non-cognitive Skills

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  • Santi Budria
  • Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell
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    Abstract

    People gain utility from occupying a higher ranked position in the income distribution of the reference group. This paper investigates whether these gains depend on an individual's set of non-cognitive skills. Using the 2000-2008 waves of the German Socioeconomic Panel dataset (SOEP), a subjective question on Life Satisfaction, and three different sets of non-cognitive skills indicators, we find significant and robust differences across skills groups. People who are more neurotic, extravert and have low external locus of control and low negative reciprocity are more sensitive to their individual position in the economic ladder. By contrast, the Life Satisfaction reaction to changes in economic status is significantly lower among individuals who score high (low) in negative (positive) reciprocity, and are at the bottom of the distribution of neuroticism, extraversion. The heterogeneity on the importance of income comparisons needs to be taken into account when, for example, introducing them into economic models, predicting individuals' behaviour, or making welfare judgments.

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    Bibliographic Info

    Paper provided by DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in its series SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research with number 441.

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    Length: 29 p.
    Date of creation: 2012
    Date of revision:
    Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp441

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    Keywords: Life satisfaction; income comparisons; personality traits;

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    References

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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Income Comparisons and Non-Cognitive Skills
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2012-05-07 13:05:30
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    Cited by:
    1. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg, 2013. "Direct Evidence on Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 549, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg, 2013. "Direct Evidence on Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201303, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).

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