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Social Comparisons, Inequality, and Growth

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Markus Knell

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Abstract

Over the recent years one could repeatedly hear the claim that a rising concern for relative standing (in terms of consumption) was partly responsible for the decline in household savings and in growth that could be observed in some developed countries (particularly in the US) and that the rise in income inequality had further aggravated this process.In this paper we want to analyze under which conditions (concerning the importance of social comparisons for peoples' behavior and their choice of reference groups) this claim is valid. We show that an increase in a societies' concern for relative standing aggravates a negative impact of inequality on growth if two conditions are fulfilled: individuals have a higher concern for their present than for their future relative standing and individuals have a tendency to find their reference groups among people that are wealthier then they are themselves. Empirical data suggest that the negative impact of inequality on growth is stronger in highly developed economies. This is compatible with the explanation that is presented in this paper if individuals living in highly developed countries are more likely to have a high concern for relative standing. We will argue (using research on the cultural consequences of economic development) that this is a reasonable assumption to make.

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Paper provided by Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW in its series IEW - Working Papers with number iewwp005.

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Related research
Keywords: Income inequality; Growth; Consumption externalities;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
O40 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General

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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.:
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Full references

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. Brown, Gordon D. A. & Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew & Qian, Jing, 2005. "Does Wage Rank Affect Employees’ Wellbeing?," IZA Discussion Papers 1505, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Klaus Reiner Schenk-Hoppé & Björn Schmalfuss, . "Random Fixed Points in a Stochastic Solow Growth Model," IEW - Working Papers iewwp065, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Josef Zweimueller, . "Inequality, Redistribution, and Economic Growth," IEW - Working Papers iewwp031, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Andersson, Fredrik W., 2006. "Is Concern for Relative Consumption a Function of Relative Consumption?," Working Papers in Economics 220, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2001. "How Much Do We Care About Absolute Versus Relative Income and Consumption?," Working Papers in Economics 63, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Falk, Armin & Knell, Markus, 2004. "Choosing the Joneses: Endogenous Goals and Reference Standards," IZA Discussion Papers 1152, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Thomas Leoni & Wolfgang Pollan, 2003. "The Impact of Inequality on Economic Growth," WIFO Working Papers 211, WIFO. [Downloadable!]
  8. Carlsson, Fredrik & Nam, Pham Khanh & Linde-Rahr, Martin & Martinsson, Peter, 2005. "Are Vietnamese Farmers Concerned with their Relative Position in Society?," Working Papers in Economics 165, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Armin Falk & Markus Knell, . "Choosing the Joneses On the Endogeneity of Reference Groups," IEW - Working Papers iewwp053, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  10. Carlsson, Fredrik & Gupta, Gautam & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2005. "Keeping Up with the Vaishyas: Caste and Relative Standing," Working Papers in Economics 171, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Markus Knell, 2008. "The Optimal Mix Between Funded and Unfunded Pensions Systems When People Care About Relative Consumption," Working Papers 146, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank). [Downloadable!]
  12. Stephanie Seguino, 2005. "All types of inequality are not created equal: divergent impacts of inequality on economic growth," Working Papers 10, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, revised Oct 2005. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Figini, P, 1999. "Inequality and Growth Revisited," Trinity Economics Papers 992, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Alexis Direr, 2000. "Relative Consumption and Saving," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1056, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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