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The Effect of Relative Income Position on Social Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Justina A.V. Fischer

    (SIAW-HSG, University of St. Gallen)

  • Benno Torgler

    (Yale Center for International and Area Studies)

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of relative income position on individuals' attitudes by analyzing ISSP 1998 microdata from 25 countries along four different dimensions. Our results provide evidence for a sizeable relative income effect while also suggesting that absolute income level may be relevant. Changing the income reference group from regional to national does not significantly alter the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Justina A.V. Fischer & Benno Torgler, 2006. "The Effect of Relative Income Position on Social Capital," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 26(4), pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-05z10014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Guglielmo Barone & Sauro Mocetti, 2016. "Inequality And Trust: New Evidence From Panel Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 794-809, April.
    2. B. Curtis Eaton & Mukesh Eswaran, 2009. "Well‐being and Affluence in the Presence of a Veblen Good," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(539), pages 1088-1104, July.
    3. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2013. "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 177-207, May.
    4. Anna Shaleva, 2015. "Uncovering the impact of intergenerational income mobility on interpersonal trust," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Tara Watson & Sara McLanahan, 2011. "Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative Income, Identity, and Marital Status," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(3), pages 482-517.
    6. Eiji Yamamura, 2012. "Government Size and Trust," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 70(1), pages 31-56, December.
    7. Justina A.V. Fischer & Benno Torgler, 2007. "Social capital and relative income concerns: evidence from 26 countries," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 2007-05, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    8. Costanza Naguib, 2022. "Financial Turmoil and Earnings Mobility," Diskussionsschriften dp2208, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    9. Antonino Callea & Dalila De Rosa & Giovanni Ferri & Francesca Lipari & Marco Costanzi, 2022. "Can Emotional Intelligence promote Individual Wellbeing and protect from perceptions' traps?," CERBE Working Papers wpC39, CERBE Center for Relationship Banking and Economics.
    10. Jordahl, Henrik, 2007. "Inequality and Trust," Working Paper Series 715, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    11. David Dorn & Justina Fischer & Gebhard Kirchgässner & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2008. "Direct democracy and life satisfaction revisited: new evidence for Switzerland," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 227-255, June.
    12. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S., 2011. "The neighborhood context of relative position, trust, and self-rated health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 42-49, July.
    13. Justina A.V. Fischer & Benno Torgler, 2013. "Do Positional Concerns Destroy Social Capital: Evidence From 26 Countries," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1542-1565, April.
    14. Eric Kemp-Benedict, 2013. "Inequality and Trust: Testing a Mediating Relationship for Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-10, February.
    15. Asep Suryahadi & Ridho Al Izzati & Daniel Suryadarma & Teguh Dartanto, 2023. "How Inequality Affects Trust in Institutions: Evidence from Indonesia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 18(1), pages 73-91, January.
    16. Alpaslan Akay & Gökhan Karabulut & Peter Martinsson, 2013. "The effect of religiosity and religious festivals on positional concerns -- an experimental investigation of Ramadan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(27), pages 3914-3921, September.
    17. Yamamura, Eiji, 2008. "The role of social capital in homogeneous society: Review of recent researches in Japan," MPRA Paper 11385, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Magorzata Wosiek, 2016. "Social capital under conditions of economic crisis — the example of Southern European countries," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 15(3), pages 401-414, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Envy;

    JEL classification:

    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General

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