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Protestant Ethic, Status Seeking, and Economic Growth

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Author Info
Michael Rauscher () (University of Rostock)

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Abstract

Commodities do not only serve the purpose of satisfying direct needs in the production and con-sumption process. Some of them can also be used to display social status and to affect the position of an individual in society. This paper addresses the question under which circum-stances status-seeking behaviour may lead to permanent economic growth in a simple model. The protestant ethic is interpreted as a special case of status-seeking behaviour. It is shown that societies composed of status-seeking individuals may grow faster than less status-oriented societies.

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File URL: http://www.wiwi.uni-rostock.de/fileadmin/Institute/VWL/VWL-Institut/RePEc/pdf/wp009thuenen.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, 1997
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Rostock, Institute of Economics, Germany in its series Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory with number 09.

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Length: 18 pages
Date of creation: 1997
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ros:wpaper:09

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Related research
Keywords: Protestant ethic; social status; economic growth;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
D92 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice and Growth, Investment, or Financing
P16 - Economic Systems - - Capitalist Systems - - - Political Economy of Capitalism

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-37, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Layard, Richard, 1980. "Human Satisfactions and Public Policy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(363), pages 737-50, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Frank, Robert H, 1985. "The Demand for Unobservable and Other Nonpositional Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 101-16, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Congleton, Roger D., 1989. "Efficient status seeking: Externalities, and the evolution of status games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 175-190, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fisher, Walter H., 2002. "Investment and Current Account Dynamics in an Open Economy Status Seeking Framework," Economics Series 110, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
  2. Heng-fu Zou, 1998. "The spirit of capitalism, social status, money, and accumulation," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 68(3), pages 219-233, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Justina AV Fischer & Friedrich Schneider, 2008. "Protestantism and Government Spending: a Negative Relationship? An Empirical Application to Swiss Cantons," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-03, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Fisher, Walter H., 2001. "Current Account Dynamics in a Small Open Economy Model of Status Seeking," Economics Series 107, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Walter H. Fisher, 2004. "Durable Consumption As A Status Good: A Study Of Neoclassical Cases," Computing in Economics and Finance 2004 96, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Michael Rauscher, 1997. "Conspicuous consumption, economic growth, and taxation," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 35-42, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Fisher, Walter H. & Hof, Franz X., 2001. "Status Seeking in the Small Open Economy," Economics Series 106, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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