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Protestant Ethic, Status Seeking, and Economic Growth

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  • Rauscher, Michael

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Rauscher, Michael, 1997. "Protestant Ethic, Status Seeking, and Economic Growth," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 09, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:roswps:09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
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    3. Konrad, Kai A., 1992. "Wealth seeking reconsidered," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 215-227, July.
    4. Layard, Richard, 1980. "Human Satisfactions and Public Policy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(363), pages 737-750, December.
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    7. 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.
    8. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fischer, Justina AV & Schneider, Friedrich, 2007. "Protestantism and Government Spending: a Negative Relationship? An Empirical Application to Swiss Cantons," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 685, Stockholm School of Economics.
    2. Walter H. Fisher, 2005. "Current Account Dynamics in a Small Open‐Economy Model of Status Seeking," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 262-282, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Fisher, Walter H. & Hof, Franz X., 2005. "Status seeking in the small open economy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 209-232, June.
    5. Fisher, Walter H., 2002. "Investment and Current Account Dynamics in an Open Economy Status Seeking Framework," Economics Series 110, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    6. Wirl Franz & Novak Andreas J. & Hof Franz X., 2008. "Happiness due to Consumption and its Increases, Wealth and Status," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(4), pages 1-34, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Protestant ethic; social status; economic growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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