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Envy and Inequality

Author Info

  • Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado
  • Ngo Van Long

Abstract

We present an overlapping generations economy populated by heterogeneous agents who care about their consumption relative to others and the bequest they leave to their offspring. In the presence of positional concerns individual saving and bequest rates vary across the income distribution. This dispersion in the rates of asset accumulation is the main channel for envy to impact the degree of intra-generational wealth inequality and its inter-generational transmission. Our results suggest that concerns for relative consumption might be an important explanatory factor for the surprisingly low levels of assets held by low-income households and the high concentration of bequests in the upper tail of the wealth distribution.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2012.01714.x
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Article provided by Wiley Blackwell in its journal Scandinavian Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 114 (2012)
Issue (Month): 3 (09)
Pages: 949-973

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Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:114:y:2012:i:3:p:949-973
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9442

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
  • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
  • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation

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Cited by:

  1. Eckerstorfer, Paul & Wendner, Ronald, 2013. "Asymmetric and Non-atmospheric Consumption Externalities, and Efficient Consumption Taxation," MPRA Paper 45521, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. Ngo Van Long & Stephanie F. McWhinnie, 2010. "The Tragedy of the Commons in a Fishery when Relative Performance Matters," School of Economics Working Papers 2010-07, University of Adelaide, School of Economics.
  3. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Jose Maria Casado & Jose Maria Labeaga & Dhanoos Sutthiphisal, 2012. "Envy and habits: panel data estimates of interdependent preferences," Banco de Espa�a Working Papers 1213, Banco de Espa�a.
  4. Ronald Wendner, 2011. "Ramsey, Pigou, heterogenous agents, and non-atmospheric consumption externalities," Graz Economics Papers 2012-01, University of Graz, Department of Economics.
  5. Aronsson, Thomas & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2014. "Positional preferences in time and space: Optimal income taxation with dynamic social comparisons," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-23.
  6. Alvarez-Cuadrado, Francisco & El-Attar, Mayssun, 2012. "Income Inequality and Saving," IZA Discussion Papers 7083, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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