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Conspicuous Consumption and Race: Evidence from South Africa

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  • Wolfhard Kaus

Abstract

A century ago, Thorstein Veblen introduced socially contingent consumption into the economic literature. This paper complements the scarce empirical literature by testing his conjecture on South African household data and finds that Black and Coloured households spend relatively more on visible consumption than comparable White households. In an emerging economy context, this is especially important as it carries implications for spending on future assets. This paper explores whether the differences in visible expenditures can be explained with a signaling model of status seeking. Among Black households, spending on visible consumption is found to change predictably with different reference group incomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolfhard Kaus, 2010. "Conspicuous Consumption and Race: Evidence from South Africa," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2010-03, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    • Handle: RePEc:esi:evopap:2010-03
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conspicuous consumption; Signaling; Status; South Africa Length 22 pages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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